MAKING 

the FARM 

PAY 






C.CBOW5 FIELD 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



MAKING THE FARM PAY 



MAKING THE FARM PAY 



BY 

C. C. BOWSFIELD 




CHICAGO 

FORBES & COMPANY 

1913 



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COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY 
FORBES AND COMPANY 



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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Modern Farmer's Opportunity 9 

One of the Great Questions of the Day 12 

Arguments for Diversified Farming. . . 16 

Farming More Profitable Than Ever 20 

Aim to Get Above the Average 25 

City Men Succeed on Farms 29 

Results Which May Be Attained 33 

Succession Crops Feasible 38 

Earning Capacity of Land Requires Study 40 

Learn How to Go Back to the Land 46 

Avoid the Single Farming Interest 51 

Getting the Most Out of an Acre 53 

Plans to Keep Young People Interested 57 

Profit Sharing with Fruit and Vegetables 64 

New Vocation for the City Family 66 

Good Selling Is a Farmer's Need 70 

Parcels Post Brings Dinner Fresh from Farm .... "jy 

Soil Improvement and More Profitable Farming . . 80 

Soil Conservation Easy to Understand 86 

Lime as an Adjunct in Farming 88 

Phosphorus as a Soil Preserver 90 



6 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Making the Most of Manure 93 

Growing Legumes for Soil Betterment 96 

Large Profits in Potatoes 102 

Growing Sweet Potatoes in the North 106 

Money Making from Pork 108 

Making a Dairy Farm Pay 1 14 

Forage Problem Demands Attention 117 

Cows Kept at a Loss 124 

Importance of Cow Testing Associations 127 

Dairy By-Products Are Important 130 

How to Obtain a Good Stand of Corn 134 

The Culture of Broomcorn 139 

The Sugar Beet Industry 142 

Irrigation by Wells Profitable 148 

Advantages of Concrete on Farms 151 

Important Points in Building Silos 155 

Chance for Big Profits in Novelties 159 

Pin Money in Pickles 164 

The Lowly Onion a Profitable Crop 168 

Give More Attention to Fruit 171 

Care and Skill in the Orchard 176 

Common Fruits Return Liberal Profits 179 

Fruit Raising Suited to Amateurs 183 

Small Fruits Pay Well 187 

Have Early and Late Strawberries 192 

Commercial Handling of Strawberries iq6 



CONTENTS 7 

PAGE 

Thorough Cultivation Makes Gardening Pay 200 

Practical Study of Gardening 204 

Commercial Value of Garden Flowers 214 

Making and Care of Hotbeds and Coldframes .... 221 

War on Field and Garden Pests 225 

Enemies of the Corn Crop 232 

Wealth in Honey Under Skillful Management ... 235 

Care and Marketing of Extracted Honey 241 

Management the Key to Poultry Success 244 

Winter Egg Production 249 

Egg Type in Hens •. 252 

Preservation of Eggs Until Prices Advance 256 

Favorite Breeds of Ducks 259 

Disease Injuring Turkey- Raising Industry 263 

Parasites Cause Heavy Poultry Losses 266 

Poultry Diseases and Remedies 270 

Useful Hints for Everyday Farm Life 275 

Dates for Planting Vegetables 291 

Insecticides and Fungicides 293 

Fertilizers for Farm and Garden 295 

Index 297 



MAKING THE FARM PAY 



The Modern Farmer's Opportunity 

Modern farming, as the author views the subject, re- 
quires varied information as well as unflagging zeal and 
industry. It needs the application of commercial ideas. 
Real success in agriculture can only be attained by keep- 
ing up with changing conditions and developing a well- 
balanced business programme to go with the tilling of 
the soiL 

The average land owner, or the old-fashioned farmer, 
as he is sometimes referred to, has a great deal of prac- 
tical knowledge, and yet is deficient in some of the most 
salient requirements. He may know how to produce a 
good crop and not know how to sell it to the best ad- 
vantage. No citizen surpasses him in the skill and in- 
dustry with which he performs his labor, but in many 
cases his time is frittered away with the least profitable 
of products, while he overlooks opportunities to meet a 
constant market demand for articles which return large 
profits. 

Worse than this, he follows a method which turns agri- 
cultural work into drudgery, and his sons and daughters 
forsake the farm home as soon as they are old enough 
to assert a little independence. At this point the greatest 
failures are to be recorded. A situation has developed as a 
result of these existing conditions in the country which is 
a serious menace to American society. The farmers are 
deprived of the earnest, intelligent help which naturally 

9 



10 THE MODERN FARMER'S OPPORTUNITY 

belongs to them, rural society loses one of its best ele- 
ments, the cities are overcrowded and all parties at in- 
terest are losers. The nation itself is injured. 

Farm life need not be more irksome than clerking or 
running a typewriter. It ought to be made much more 
attractive and it can also be vastly more profitable than 
it is. Better homes and more social enjoyment, with 
greater contentment and happiness, will come to dwellers 
in the country when they grasp the eternal truth that they 
have the noblest vocation on earth and one that may be 
made to yield an income fully as large as that of the aver- 
age city business man. 

This whole subject of making agriculture more profit- 
able and enjoyable is approached in a spirit of sympathy. 
The author resides on a farm and has long been a land 
owner. He knows the difference between book farming 
and the actual work of tilling the soil or taking care of 
live stock. No one appreciates more fully than he what 
a great fund of information a person must possess to be 
even an ordinary farmer. As a rule people who dwell in 
the country are also well posted on political affairs and 
are patriotic citizens. They are above the average in 
these respects. 

In the effort to show that farmers are lacking in com- 
mercial skill it is permissible to repeat that they are the 
only business people who have nothing to say either in fix- 
ing the prices which they get for their own goods or which 
they pay for other people's. This want of market ability 
is a result of their isolated life and the old method of 
raising a single crop, such as wheat or corn. With steady 
improvement in transportation facilities and other mod- 
ern conveniences there will come greater diversity in agri- 
culture and a general betterment in rural affairs. The 
tiller of the soil will be a business man, who will not only 
devote his land to products which naturally pay best, 
but who will have something to say about price making. 



THE MODERN FARMER'S OPPORTUNITY H 

Prices of agricultural commodities are now on such a 
high level that land owners may enter upon a period of 
money making. It is not true, however, that farmers 
are to any great extent responsible for the high cost of 
living. Producers are not overpaid. High prices are 
mainly due to business conditions for which people in the 
rural districts have no responsibility. Consumers are 
at the mercy of a system which involves unreasonable 
expense and too many middlemen. 

It would be to the advantage of farmers, however, to 
have the expense of handling agricultural commodities 
lessened. They may help toward the attainment of this 
end by adopting better methods of marketing than now 
prevail. Consumers as well as themselves would benefit 
by such a movement. 

This, book is published in the hope of assisting farmers 
to improve their position. There is a widespread and in- 
telligent movement toward more diversified and intensive 
farming, which I heartily endorse. By this system the 
farm can be made to pay better than it does, because it 
aims at greater production on each acre cultivated and 
at meeting special market requirements. The one great 
point in commercial farming is to produce those articles 
which pay best. 

There is a continual and expanding market for numer- 
ous products that are easily raised, and which, by their 
very diversity, are a guarantee against failure. The 
market has never been oversupplied with fruits, broilers, 
mushrooms, honey, squabs, berries and the like. There 
is the keenest sort of demand today all over the country 
for extra nice butter, eggs and poultry. The need of 
parsnips, beets, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, beans and 
other kinds of vegetables is incessant, and in all of these 
lines there is a profit far exceeding that gained from 
large single crops or big dairies. 



One of the Great Questions of the Day 

In common with thousands of others I am strongly- 
impressed with the beHef that the subject of better farm- 
ing in America is the most important now occupying the 
attention of the commercial world. By better farming 
is meant a system that will produce larger profits and 
an easier living for those who till the soil, as well as a 
greater acreage production. 

In discussing this subject I have in mind these salient 
propositions: Farmers who are not capitalists occupy 
too much land. They would do better farming and 
attain better results on smaller tracts. The little farm 
requires less drudgery than the large one. 

It afifords a more enjoyable existence and tends to stim- 
ulate the interest of the young people in progressive 
agriculture. To reduce the size of farms will make it 
easier for poor men to acquire land, consequently the 
number of owners must increase. 

With more owners and renewed interest, our rural 
population will be augmented. By increasing the pro- 
duction of commodities per acre, we will have heavier ex- 
ports, and the prosperity of the nation will be enhanced. 
These considerations are worthy of our attention and 
highest intelligence. 

The little-farm proposition is appealingly strong, both 
to the man in the country and the resident of the city. It 
is, in fact, the hope of the American farmer, and of the 
business world today. Through this modern system the 
rural family is to escape much of its drudgery, and the 
city family is to obtain commodities at lower prices. By 
the new method of intensive and diversified agriculture, 

12 



ONE OF THE GREAT QUESTIONS 13 

country life is to become easier and more attractive, 
both to the young and to the old. 

Big farms are all right for those who are equipped to 
handle them properly, but they are not desirable for peo- 
ple who have not capital enough to hire plenty of help, 
and organize in a businesslike way, to secure good re- 
sults. 

It is the evolution that bothers the average farmer. 
How can he make the change without losses? If he sells 
off half his land to enable him to farm in the modern, 
intensive fashion, has he any guarantee that he will not 
fail in this, and so find himself at the end of a few years, 
minus both land and capital? 

He can best satisfy himself on this point by making 
an easy comparison of crop values. Such a comparison 
will startle some of the old-fashioned agriculturists, 
who persist in running large farms on the one crop idea. 

It requires methodical work and business methods to 
make any kind of a farm pay. As land increases in 
value the person with limited means will have to be con- 
tented with a small tract, and he must learn his business 
so well that a few acres will yield enough for a living. 
Better farming is the need of the hour. 

The soil should be so handled that it will produce twice 
as much as it has in the past. Otherwise this nation will 
become an importer of foodstuffs instead of an exporter. 
The importance of diversified farming and intelligent 
agriculture cannot be overestimated. 

It has been shown by competent authorities that the 
wheat crop of the country returns an average profit of 
much less than $io per acre. In fact, many people agree 
that when the expense of equipment, the value of the 
land, the cost of seed, and the worth of labor are con- 
sidered, there is no profit whatever in raising wheat. 

The American farmer, as a rule, does not count his 



14 ONE OF THE GREAT QUESTIONS 

own time, the value of his land, or the cost of his horses 
and machinery, in estimating his profits on grain. 

If he has a crop of loo acres of wheat that will clear 
$500 for him after reckoning the value of seed, the cost 
of help and the expense of threshing, he puts it down at 
$500 profit, though he has put most of his year's time 
into it, besides maintaining the land and an equipment of 
horses and machinery worth several hundred dollars. 

The following table showing the relative value of crops 
is based on my own experience : 

Gross Net 

Wheat per acre $ 15.00 $ 8.00 

Field-corn 30.00 20.00 

Sweet potatoes 150.00 110.00 

Potatoes 125.00 75.00 

Onions 250.00 150.00 

Cucumbers 200.00 1 50.00 

Strawberries 300.00 200.00 

Cherries 200.00 150.00 

Apples 250.00 200.00 

Clover 25.00 20.00 

Alfalfa 45.00 30.00 

Timothy 20.00 15.00 

Millet 25.00 20.00 

Live stock and dairying can be figured on the acreage 
basis, just as easily as grain or fruit. If a farmer with 
50 acres handles 25 cows and clears $1,000 after paying 
for help, his net profit is $20 per acre. 

A man with 20 acres can easily handle 100 hogs a year, 
which will net $1,000 to $1,500. A profit of $10 per head, 
or $1,000, is $50 per acre. This is at least treble as much 
as can be made from grain, and the work is a great deal 
less. 

If the small farm will serve to render rural life more 
attractive, shorten the workday and arouse interest 



ONE OF THE GREAT QUESTIONS 15 

among the young people, it is the right system for the 
average person to adopt. If it will keep the young folk 
away from the cities and make them love their homes, 
it beats the old method immeasurably. 

Furthermore, if these results are accomplished, the 
help question will no longer be a serious one. To gain 
so much is worth the best efforts of the American 
farmer. 

With the ordinary family no help is needed on a little 
farm except where there is a considerable crop of fruit 
or vegetables, for which there is a ready cash return 
sufficient to meet the expenses of operation. 

The old method is driving young people away from 
the farm and it has become next to impossible to keep 
hired help. Men will not work on a farm when they 
come to understand that they can get employment in 
town or on the railroad at higher wages and with shorter 
days. Nine or ten hours a day will not do on the old- 
fashioned farm. It is fourteen or more and seven days in 
the week at that. The average in the city, taking all 
classes of employment together, is about nine hours. 

Then again, clerkships are very alluring to boys and 
girls, especially after they have had a taste of farm life, 
where the family labors from daylight to dark. Under 
existing conditions it has come about that the farmer 
finds himself, in many cases, without hired help or the as- 
sistance which is ordinarily expected from his sons and 
daughters. 



Arguments for Diversified Farming 

Farming is becoming a more serious proposition year by 
year. A long succession of drouths in certain localities 
and the consequent waste of a large acreage are forcing 
landowners to consider crop diversity. 

The one weak spot in modern farming is the disposi- 
tion to do big things with a single interest, such as 
wheat raising or dairying. When there is a failure either 
through seasonal causes or accident, the loss is heavy, 
discouraging, disastrous. The growing cost of land and 
labor and the increasing importance of the farmer's time 
cry out against the single crop idea. 

I am confident that those who have in large part lost 
their wheat crops through drouth will give attention to 
my plea for a greater diversification on all farms. 

Milk producers whose pastures are dried up by the 
intense heat of summer are also likely to be ready 
listeners. Furthermore, the young farmer and the 
student of agriculture who are observing the conditions 
described must soon reach the conclusion that it is bad 
policy to depend on a single crop. 

While grain raising is an attractive scheme when 
figured on the basis of a dollar a bushel and twenty 
bushels an acre, it never has been a safe proposition for 
the person of limited capital. Capitalists in many cases 
have made it profitable, because through operating ex- 
tensively the acreage cost is reduced and they are able to 
wait a year or two for profits. 

There are also numerous instances of men of small 
means being fortunate enough to escape droughts and 
other destructive agencies and gaining substantial returns 

16 



ARGUMENTS FOR DIVERSIFIED FARMING 17 

from a wheat crop of one or two hundred acres. This 
does not prove it a safe enterprise, however. It is always 
hazardous ; always more or less of a gamble. I am allud- 
ing, of course, to non-irrigated lands. 

Within the range of my own experience and observa- 
tion a farmer with 200 acres feels that he is doing well 
when he clears $5CX) to $1,000 a year either from grain 
or a dairy. How many can show this profit, either in 
cash savings or substantial improvements? 

The man on such a tract of land who produces for 
market 100 hogs, 20 beeves, 200 sheep, 500 chickens and 
a variety of vegetables, with a small grain crop, will 
double discount the exclusive wheat grower. Instead of 
risking his year's time and his whole investment on one 
product he divides his risks into eight or ten parts. There- 
fore, if his grain is a failure he can stand the loss be- 
cause he has various other interests to fall back on. If 
he has bad luck with his hogs and chickens, he still has 
an assured income from many other sources. 

Another almost equally important point is the dis- 
tribution of labor over the year. The extra labor re- 
quired during seeding and harvest on a grain farm eats a 
big hole in the ordinary profits. 

When one considers the teams and machinery involved, 
together with the upkeep, it becomes doubtful whether 
there is any actual profit in wheat raising. The invest- 
ment in land, teams, machinery and labor is substantially 
the same whether the yield is ten bushels or twenty. 

With the other principle established, the amount of 
labor required is pretty much the same at one time of 
the year as another. Nobody knows better than the 
farmer how vexatious and costly the uncertainty of labor 
has become. 

I claim without fear of successful contradiction that 
the farmer who diversifies his products will accomplish 
more on one hundred acres than a grain grower or milk 



18 ARGUMENTS FOR DIVERSIFIED FARMING 

producer will on two hundred. For an illustration I will 
give a list of products which come within the capacity of 
lOO acres in a season. 

100 hogs $1,500 

20 beeves 1,200 

200 sheep 1 ,400 

I span horses 350 

500 chickens 300 

Eggs 250 

1,000 bushels potatoes 500 

Total $5,500 

The intelligent farmer can decide for himself whether 
it is possible or not to raise the fodder for this amount 
of stock on 100 acres, and whether any figures given are 
unreasonable. About $1,000 must be deducted from the 
gross amount for labor, and the help should be the same 
throughout the year. The program can be varied to 
suit tastes and conditions. A few acres might be de- 
voted to strawberries, cherries, apples, sweetcorn, cucum- 
bers, cabbage, etc. 

There is immense profit in these lighter crops, and the 
acreage is so small, comparatively, that in a drought it is 
possible to save the product with well or slough water. 
There is a constant demand for fruit and vegetables at 
fair prices. This is also the case in regard to poultry and 
eggs. 

Diversified farming cannot be carried on without intel- 
ligent effort. There is no end to the work, but even in 
this respect it beats a dairy, and for a certainty it makes 
for smaller investment, less risk, and greater chance to 
take advantage of market conditions. 

Fruit raising and mixed farming make a good combina- 
tion. The wheat is in the bins and the corn in the shocks 
or silos by the time the apples are ripe and fit for harvest. 



ARGUMENTS FOR DIVERSIFIED FARMING 19 

Dairy farming and stock growing form an excellent 
combination, and one that will improve the fertility of 
the farm. Dairying and potato growing make another 
good combination. The potatoes may be grown in the 
same rotation of crops that is practised in growing food 
for the dairy cattle. The work may be done with the 
same help that is required to care for the dairy, and 
very little horsepower is needed to handle the additional 
crop. 

Take the ordinary crops of corn and wheat as ex- 
amples. The western farmer who grows a large acreage 
of corn and wheat finds he must plant his corn early and 
push its cultivation so as to have it well out of the way 
by the time the wheat is ready to harvest. Late planted 
corn and wheat need attention at the same time, and one 
or the other must suffer. 

A second consideration in diversified farming should 
be to grow a rational rotation of crops, a rotation adapted 
to the needs of the live stock, and one that will not 
diminish the fertility of the soil for future crops. Corn, 
wheat and clover constitute an excellent crop rotation, 
and this may be lengthened a year to admit a cash market 
crop. 



Farming More Profitable Than Ever 

Viewed as a financial proposition, farming is more at- 
tractive today than ever before. All staples are selling 
at figures which give liberal profits. While the farmer 
is not being overpaid, compared to business people gen- 
erally, he is in a position to make money faster than it 
has heretofore been made in agriculture. He is inde- 
pendent and secure. 

A well located farm of lOO acres ought to show a net 
profit of $2,000 a year. It will do this if operated with 
fair business sagacity. It can be made to do more in the 
hands of a person who is able to apply scientific knowl- 
edge together with good business methods. 

A person starting with sufficient capital and going 
in for fruit, flowers, fine poultry and some of the other 
fancy lines will clean up $2,000 or more on a tract of 
twenty to forty acres. This is being done in a few cases, 
and market demands are such that it can be accomplished 
by thousands of others. 

Location may not determine the success of a farmer, 
but it has much to do with the kind of produce which is 
raised. Near a large city it is profitable to give special 
attention to dairy and poultry products, fruit, vegetables 
and flowers. In cases of less favorable location, when 
shipping is more difficult, live stock, grain, potatoes, 
onions and hay are the best staples to cultivate. 

It is the general belief that farmers should diversify 
their crops, so that a failure of one crop or low prices for 
that crop would leave him other products to fall back on. 
There are other reasons. There is no single crop that 
keeps farm labor busy all of the time, but by a proper com- 

20 



FARMING MORE PROFITABLE THAN EVER 21 

bination of crops, employment of labor can be extended 
virtually throughout the year. 

A dairy helps to balance up the labor of a farm. The 
milk herd requires attention morning and night through 
the summer, say an hour and a half each time, and the 
middle of the day is spent in cultivating fodder crops. 
In winter the work of feeding and cleaning takes more 
time than in summer, but there are still several hours to 
be devoted to the care of poultry, the marketing of 
produce and other incidental labor. Hogs and poultry go 
nicely with the dairy, not only to distribute the labor, but 
for the profitable use of skimmed milk or other surplus. 

This diversity works well in many other ways. It is an 
advantage to raise early potatoes, and after this crop has 
been taken off, onions, cabbage, beets, corn, millet, cow- 
peas or soy beans can be grown on the same land. There 
is a cash demand for all such staples which improves with 
the growth of cities. The market improvement is due to 
the steady development of a non-producing population. 

A few years ago garden truck was so cheap that f armx- 
ers could not afford to give their time to it. Today a 
fine income is assured the person who has five or ten 
acres devoted to such common products as cabbage, 
onions, beans, lettuce and celery. No crops are more 
certain than these and with a variety of them the failure 
of one or two does not ruin the tiller of the soil. 

No crop is easier to handle than strawberries or rasp- 
berries, and there is no investment for machinery or 
power in connection with their production, yet berries 
pay hundreds of dollars per acre, while grain crops 
which require expensive equipments return $io to $30 an 
acre. 

The increase of transportation facilities is another 
large factor in making farming profitable. The lack of 
train service in years past was a great handicap to farm- 
ers. This improvement not only helps farmers to do 



22 FARMING MORE PROFITABLE THAN EVER 

quick and regular marketing, but enables city people to 
live in the country. It has such an influence on the 
prosperity and comforts of rural life that land becomes 
a most desirable investment, being certain to advance in 
value. 

If you are starting a country home, or planning to 
do so, make up your mind that farming as an avocation 
can be made both pleasant and profitable. Confine the 
work to reasonable hours and have such a variety of 
products that something will appeal to every member of 
the family. 

This is necessary if boys and girls are to be held in the 
country. Farming has been plain drudgery in too many 
cases, and ambitious young people have been driven to the 
cities. Unmistakable signs of a change in this tendency 
are seen. The country eventually will be attractive both 
as to occupation and home-making. 

There has been real progress in recent years in agri- 
culture and the development of a broader and more hope- 
ful rural life. Actual results are being accomplished 
along these progresrsive lines. It is apparent that the 
financial side of farming has reached a higher plane than 
it occupied five years ago. 

Questions of selling and buying are receiving more 
attention than ever before, and the principle of co-opera- 
tion is being applied in these and other matters pertain- 
ing to the farmer's business. 

Telephones are breaking in upon the isolation and 
monotony of rural life; good roads can bring neighbors 
still closer and the outside world nearer by encouraging 
rural mail delivery. With a care for beauty in home 
surroundings, even on the prairie a vast change can be 
wrought — a change that not alone will increase the value 
of the farm, but with other conveniences will make a 
farm home ideal. 

Just at present those living in cities, large and small, 



FARMING MORE PROFITABLE THAN EVER 23 

consider a day or a week in the country a privilege. 
They are looking for but a glimpse of natural beauty 
that can be part of the farmer's home surroundings 
during the entire season. 

At present 2,000 American high schools are teaching 
agriculture ; 37,000 students in these schools are studying 
this subject. There is a great shortage of well-prepared 
high school teachers of agriculture, and such teachers re- 
ceive 50 to 100 per cent greater salary than do teachers 
of other subjects. There is no reason why a part of the 
studies carried on in the agricultural colleges today 
could not be given to pupils in properly equipped rural 
schools, a greater portion of which equipment would be 
an experimental plot. 

We now recognize the need not only of knowing the 
general laws of nature and their application to methods 
of culture but that each farmer should be able to 
make the application under his peculiar conditions of soil, 
climate, topography, market and transportation facilities. 
So long as there are unsolved problems lying before our 
farmers, which can be solved only in the light of knowl- 
edge which the average farmer can not gain for himself, 
then the schools must help. 

There is the problem of distributing products once 
grown; nearness to market, transportation, character of 
market, competition for the market, function and rewards 
of middlemen, development of agricultural credit, busi- 
ness co-operation among farmers, etc. These economic 
considerations, just because they are vital to the success 
of agriculture, are a subject for thorough investigation. 

Our greatest concern is with the quality of people de- 
veloped by the rural mode of living. Hence, the condi- 
tions of rural life — moral, religious, recreational — are 
of significance. Because these things are vital to the wel- 
fare of the nation they must be studied. 

Next to this is the recognized need of stimulating 



24 FARMING MORE PROFITABLE THAN EVER 

agricultural production in order to meet the growing call 
for supplies at home and abroad. The rapid growth in 
American cities has created a consumptive demand which 
is increasing far more rapidly than the output of the 
farms. The effect of this has been to cut down our ex- 
port to such an extent that we have come to depend on 
the cotton crop and manufactured products to maintain 
the nation's balance of trade. 

The wheat crop of this country is raised on 50,000,000 
acres and averages 13.7 bushels to the acre, while sev- 
eral countries of Europe, on thousand-year-old farms, 
average 26 bushels. We have as good, or better, land, 
tools, brains, etc., but we are not yet properly employing 
any of these factors. 

The corn average is only 28 bushels per acre, and yet 
in some twelve experiments last summer a yield of 100 
bushels or more was easily secured. 

If the farms of the corn belt were kept clean of weeds 
there would be a great deal less trouble with insects, is 
the opinion of Frank I. Mann of Oilman, 111. There are 
a number of times during the year when there are no 
crops in condition for the insects to live on, and these 
times are tided over for them by the growth of weeds 
where they do not belong. A few of the insects, such as 
grubs, root lice and corn root-worm, can be controlled by 
a crop rotation which introduces a year of clover or some 
such crop upon the roots of which the insects cannot 
hve. An evidence of the possibilities in insect eradica- 
tion is the Mann farm at Oilman. For a number of 
years the men from the state entomological department 
have been examining the Mann fields every year to see if 
any injurious insects could be found, and except for 
grasshoppers they have found none. Mr. Mann at- 
tributes this entirely to the systematic rotation of crops, 
the keeping out of weeds, and the use of strong seed 
which produces plants with power of pest resistance. 



Aim to Get Above the Average 

The actual moneymaking on a farm comes when we are 
above the average in quality and production. Those who 
stand on the common level will get a living, but not much 
more. Farming needs individuality of character and pur- 
pose just as running a store or a factory does. 

If the usual profit in a flock of hens is $i each, above 
the cost of food, the aim should be to increase egg pro- 
duction and the sale of broilers or other kinds of fancy 
poultry so that there will be a profit of $2 for each hen 
kept. This is to be accomplished by selecting pullets from 
the best laying mothers and by breeding up with full- 
blooded males. 

If the cows in a dairy herd are paying an average of 
$100 a year, make an effort to raise it to $200. Perhaps 
the quickest way to gain this end is by discarding all 
animals that fail to give five gallons of milk per day for the 
greater part of the year. The stock may be gradually im- 
proved by selection and breeding. It may be possible also 
to sell a part of the milk or cream to private customers 
who will pay double the wholesale rate. 

It is not necessary that the farmer should replace all of 
his grade cows with high-priced, pure-bred Holsteins, 
Jerseys, Guernseys or Ayrshires. However, for success- 
ful and profitable dairying it is absolutely necessary that 
he realize the remarkable difference in productive capacity 
of the individual cows in the same herd, though these 
cows are cared for by the same man and are consuming 
practically the same amount of feed. 

Recently a herd of hogs from the northwest was sold 

25 



26 AIM TO GET ABOVE THE AVERAGE 

in one of the central markets for $8.50 per 100 pounds. A 
herd of similar size from a so-called corn belt state sold 
in the same market on the same day for $7.95. The 
northwestern hogs were fed a variety of food, including 
barley, a liberal amount of alfalfa, a little ground wheat, 
some corn and some sugar beet sirup. The other herd of 
hogs was fattened almost exclusively on corn. 

Not only did the northwestern hogs bring a higher 
price per ICXD pounds, but they put on flesh more rapidly 
and economically than the others and were in every way 
more satisfactory. With the present knowledge of alfalfa 
growing no farmer, even in the strictly corn states, can 
find a reasonable excuse for not having some of this to 
feed his hogs. 

Hogs need to run at large in a field where there is for- 
age. This may be clover, alfalfa, rape or artichokes. 
In this way they attain growth and put on flesh better 
than they will if penned up. If they can have whey or 
skimmed milk once a day this will assist the economical 
production of meat. The aim must be to bring the hog 
up to 200 or 300 pounds at such a moderate cost that 
there will be a liberal profit when it is marketed. 

With an abundance of hay and corn there ought to be 
good profit in fattening beef animals, few or many, accord- 
ing to the size of the farm. It would appear that with 
the judicious selection of feeders, with the careful han- 
dling of the animals while in the feed lot and with an 
even break on other conditions, cattle feeding ought to 
be fairly profitable. 

Farmers have come to realize the value of maintain- 
ing soil fertility and are using manure as liberally as 
possible. Land, to be made a source of continuous profit, 
must be kept fertile. The proper rotation of crops, com- 
bined with the raising of live stock, will contribute largely 
in the maintenance of soil fertility. 

A few wise farmers in the Chicago district receive 



AIM TO GET ABOVE THE AVERAGE 27 

$2.50 to $5 a bushel for all the corn they raise. They 
understand the selling end of farming as well as the pro- 
ducing end. One is about as important as the other. 

These farmers buy 60-cent corn for feeding. They can 
not afford to use their own product for this purpose. Be- 
ing careful, systematic men they raise corn of a high 
type, uniform and prolific, and they are becoming wealthy 
by this kind of brain work. There is a lesson for all 
farmers here. 

Raise a first-class article, whether grain, vegetables, 
chickens or pigs, and there will be no difficulty in find- 
ing people who want your product if you will but let them 
know what you have and what you sell it for. 

I have often seen men going from store to store with 
a tin bucket and an old rag sticking out under the cover 
asking the merchants if they wanted butter, and at every 
place they would be told that it was not wanted, when 
in fact those very merchants were getting print butter 
all the way from Wisconsin or Iowa. They knew the 
character of the butter in the tin buckets and did not 
want that sort. As with butter, so it is with all products 
of the farm. It is quality ihat makes the article sell. 

Conditions are right for money-making by the agri- 
cultural class. It simply remains for the farmers them- 
selves to develop methods of selling by which they can 
take advantage of the improved markets. The rapid 
growth of cities, and the sharp demand for all kinds of 
produce are substantial evidence of this improvement. 

Co-operation is the first step. Organization may be ap- 
plied not only in shipping, but in forming neighborhood 
clubs among city customers to whom regular quantities 
of produce may be delivered at stated intervals at prices 
which are reasonable and fair to both sides. 

Abroad farmers market and dispose of their produce 
profitably through agricultural co-operative associations. 
They improve their methods, widen their markets and 



28 AIM TO GET ABOVE THE AVERAGE 

reduce their transportation expenses through co-opera- 
tion. Why can not our farmers do likewise? 

When a farmer is located near a good market, the 
thing for him to do is to sell to private customers. As 
his business enlarges he can furnish supplies to hotels and 
restaurants as well as residences. He can obtain any 
price in reason so long as his goods are choice. 

When producers are too far from a good market to 
drive in frequently the proposed method of co-operation is 
excellent. A number of them, working together, can 
agree to ship regularly a given quantity of produce to 
city consumers and the latter can best handle the business 
by means of an organization of some sort. 

There are many reasons why waterfowl are not more 
popular for the table than they are, but the chief reason is 
that they are so poorly fitted for the market. The big 
duck farms of the east are the only ones to give the 
proper finishing of ducks for the market the whole atten- 
tion it deserves. They have educated the market to an 
appreciation of good waterfowl, and have been rewarded 
in price for the effort expended. 

It pays well to be able to furnish in their season such 
articles as strawberries, currants, cucumbers, cherries, 
apples, raspberries, sweet corn, cabbage, honey and other 
products of the kind. These pay ten times as much as the 
grain crops. An acre of cherries or apples v/ill net about 
$150 after paying for the labor of picking and marketing. 
The others are equally profitable or nearly so. 

A farmer raising fruit should make contracts with 
private customers or grocers as early in the season as 
he can ; that is, as soon as he can tell something about 
what the yield is to be. He will thus get better returns 
than by shipping to a large produce market. The same 
method is best in marketing poultry, eggs and vegetables. 



City Men Succeed on Farms 

In many notable cases city men are succeeding as farm- 
ers. If they do not know all about raising grain and 
handling livestock, they are able, as a general rule, to 
apply business methods to their undertakings. 

Successful farm management must include a knowl- 
edge of buying and selling. In this particular the city 
man is apt to be ahead of his rural neighbor. It is 
essential to know what consumers require, what the usual 
retail prices are on farm commodities and the faciHties 
available for transporting and selling. The man of city 
experience understands these things and he goes in for a 
line of produce like onions, beans, potatoes, ducks, 
chickens and carnations and asters, on which he gets big 
profits. 

It would not be like a city man to raise wheat at 75 
cents a bushel and twenty bushels to the acre when he 
can get 90 cents a bushel for onions and 250 bushels 
to the acre. This illustrates the whole idea, and no truth 
is more striking than the fact that city men are needed in 
agriculture. 

It is difficult to estimate offhand the economic impor- 
tance of the much-talked-about movement of families 
from the city to the farm. The "back to the land" 
exhortation to all intents and purposes is a "go west, 
young man," motto redressed. So far as migration to 
the farm interests men with money and intelligence, the 
whole idea is splendid and can only lead to success. 

It is not all a matter of settlement or numerical in- 
crease on the land. The country demands introduction 
of new crops or products, establishment of new enter- 

29 



30 CITY MEN SUCCEED ON FARMS 

prises and bringing forth of conveniences and commodi- 
ties which farming districts lack. 

There is also an opportunity for a man with capital to 
establish himself in a rural community and supply farm- 
ers with live stock or other equipment in cases where 
they are short of means. Money is needed in making 
the switch from old methods to new. It is also required 
to aid city residents in getting started on the farm. In- 
vestments of this character are safe. The returns enrich 
both the man with money and the farmer with the stock, 
who stands sponsor for the returns. There is enough 
security in the farming business to permit the man with 
money to unite with the farmer for mutual advantage. 

There are other common opportunities, such as 
establishment of nurseries, production of high-class seeds 
and manufacture of mill products. The list is in fact 
long and the opportunities many. The successful oc- 
cupancy of the land is in fact only the first phase of a 
greater movement which must follow. 

The need of the day is for diversification in agricul- 
ture, and this is merely another way of saying that busi- 
ness methods are required on the farm. A more scientific 
cultivation of the soil is called for and it is equally neces- 
sary for any rural community to adapt its products to 
the market conditions surrounding it. Advantages in selling 
may be gained by securing private customers and 
handling all commodities in a tasty, businesslike way. 

There are many difficulties in farming, but the advan- 
tages of an agricultural life must not be overlooked. In 
the first place, the farmer, if he is at all successful, has 
no fear of being displaced. He commands his own time 
and leads an independent life. In the second place, if 
he is wise, he may himself produce nearly all the food 
necessary for his family. 

It is best to go in for a variety of products, but not on 
an extravagant scale. A start is easily made with poultry. 



CITY MEN SUCCEED ON FARMS 31 

vegetables, flowers, bees and pigs. For this sort of farm- 
ing only a small tract of land is needed, and no large 
outlay is required for horses, barns, machinery and tools. 
These facts have to be observed because it is more diffi- 
cult at the present time to break away from city employ- 
ment and establish oneself on the land than it was a 
generation ago. 

At that time there was plenty of land to be home- 
steaded. Especially in the middle west, where most of 
this land was available, the soil was rich and its fertility 
needed no attention. It did not take long for the beginner 
to learn how to grow crops successfully on this rich 
virgin soil, and the advance in land values made the en- 
terprise distinctly profitable. 

When good land was thus available for the taking, 
thousands of farm homes were successfully established 
by men having little previous knowledge of the business. 
At present there is practically no desirable land left for 
homesteads. Therefore it is a good plan for the city 
man to begin without investing heavily in buildings, 
machinery and power. 

If he will take a few acres close to a large town, or at 
least convenient to transportation, he can carry on truck 
farming with small outlay beyond the first cost of land. 
One horse and a little light machinery will suffice at the 
start. Vegetable raising requires patient labor for six 
months in the year and yields a fine return on time and 
investment. 

Flower farming is as simple as anything else and may 
be pursued with pleasure and profit the year around, if 
the farmer will put some of the proceeds of his surplus 
land into a greenhouse and steam heating plant. A half 
acre in carnations or roses will yield a regular monthly 
income amounting to more than fifty acres of corn or 
wheat. Perhaps, also, it would supply an element of 



32 CITY MEN SUCCEED ON FARMS 

refinement and beauty that would be sufficient to keep 
the young men and women at home. 

The time has come in this country — and it came long 
ago in other parts of the world — when a tract of ten 
acres insures comfort and independence. 

This is owing to the large markets which exist every- 
where and the development of railroads. When the 
country was sparsely settled, and everybody could own 
land, it was hard to dispose of produce for enough to pay 
for handling it. Cash was scarce and markets were in- 
different. Today the great cities all around us are calling 
for farm products at prices which afford large profits. 

Last season a Michigan man put in four and three- 
fourths acres to cabbage. The ground was plowed about 
the middle of May and with the plowing a good coat of 
manure was turned under. Then the plot was topped 
and dressed with muriate of potash, using about icmd 
pounds to the acre. The seed was drilled in the row and 
the plants were thinned out when large enough for that 
work. 

The heads were cut the first week in November and 
about the middle of January ninety-three tons, all from 
this patch, were sold in Grand Rapids. Twenty-five tons 
were sold at $23 a ton and the remaining sixty-eight 
tons brought $25 a ton. This is a total of $2,275 from 
four and three-fourths acres of land — not all profit, of 
course, but a good per cent of it is. 

The owner had land enough left, supposing his farm to 
be ten acres, to maintain a herd of swine and a flock of 
poultry. 



Results Which May Be Attained 

It ought to be the aim of every farmer to accompHsh 
these definite results : 

Increase profits by enlarging production at a fixed ex- 
pense. 

Diversify crops and all other profits so as to distribute 
labor evenly throughout the year. 

Secure a regular income at all seasons by supplying 
customers with poultry and dairy products, vegetables, 
beef, pork, etc. 

Shorten the vv^ork-day to ten hours, provide a comfort- 
able home, improve the appearance of the premises and 
try to make life enjoyable. 

Let the young people have a little money from the pro- 
duction of fruit, flov^ers, vegetables and experimental 
crops. Teach them to plan v^ork for themselves and to 
love the country. 

There are farmers v^^ho have delightful homes and who 
give the young people all reasonable advantages, but they 
are an exception to the rule. Country life is made dull 
and distasteful, as a general proposition, by long hours, 
drudgery and a lack of social interests. This explains 
the large exodus of young people to town, when they 
could be happier and more prosperous in the country. 

The American farmer, however, has not been doing 
justice to himself. He has stuck too closely to those 
products which pay the smallest profits, and he has not 
sold his goods to the best advantage. By a lack of 
diversity in production he has continually borne a risk of 
total failure. 

The difference in yield between the land properly 

33 



34 RESULTS WHICH MAY BE ATTAINED 

farmed and the land poorly farmed is so great that 
scientific farming experts are now calling the attention 
of farmers by communities to the urgency of taking up 
the study of certain crops and demonstrating the great 
loss that is being sustained throughout the country in not 
making closer study in requirements of cultivation for 
large grain yields. It is rotation and diversity that are 
lacking — the former to keep up the farm and the latter 
to keep up the profits. 

Every practical rotation must contain crops that use 
nitrogen and crops that gather it. For example, in the 
common rotation of corn, wheat and clover, the first two 
use nitrogen and the third gathers it. In fact, clover is 
a user and a gatherer of nitrogen. Do not think because 
a legume adds nitrogen to the soil that it does not use up 
plant food; in fact, leguminous crops use more potash 
and phosphorus than most any of the grain crops. A 
large amount of nitrogen is also used, but it is taken from 
the air, and in addition an extra amount is stored up in 
the soil. 

Now let the farmer push this diversification far beyond 
the corn, wheat and clover crops. Cowpeas and oats 
sown together make splendid fodder and benefit the soil. 
They can be harvested by midsummer, and a crop of mil- 
let grown on the same land by fall. Rye and clover sown 
together in the fall can be cut for fodder by June i, and 
potatoes, corn, rutabagas, millet or cowpeas grown the 
same season. 

While farmers are making $20 to $30 an acre on heavy 
grain crops, they should not overlook such products as 
onions, beans, potatoes, sugar beets and fruit, which re- 
turn a profit of $100 to $200 an acre. These are the 
things which bring the large profits and place agriculture 
on a business basis. 

Some of the easiest money in this country is made by 
watching cows and hogs grow up. The man who has 



RESULTS WHICH MAY BE ATTAINED 35 

enough feed for 200 head of cattle and pigs can make 
big profits. This system solves the labor question better 
than anything else, as it gives work to hired help the en- 
tire year and avoids rushes even in haying. Cattle and 
hogs belong in the general scheme of diversified farming 
with poultry and vegetables. 

The system on many farms could be changed so as to 
raise more live stock and give employment to one or two 
men all the year around. I do not believe there is much 
trouble in keeping men where they are well treated, well 
paid and given steady employment. Farmers have to 
compete with manufacturers, railroads and other large 
employers of labor, and they can not expect to pick up 
good men at any time of the year they happen to need 
them. 

In addition to the ordinary farming, which contem- 
plates a system that is best for the land, it should be the 
aim of all farmers to so diversify and manage their 
crops that they can take advantage of the keen market 
demand which exists for a variety of products other than 
grain and live stock. 

There are large profits in fruit and vegetables, as well 
as in the furnishing of choice supplies of poultry, honey, 
butter and a line of commodities which may come under 
the head of fancy farming. An amateur can safely en- 
gage in the production of various articles which pay bet- 
ter than wheat, corn or milk. 

Among some of the highly profitable crops which farm- 
ers commonly neglect and which may be grown in all 
parts of the country are grapes, raspberries, strawberries, 
apples, plums, cherries, pears, tobacco, onions, beans, cab- 
bage, celery and a host more which have an attractive ap- 
pearance to the person who studies the markets. Alfalfa 
also sells readily at prices which make it more profitable 
than grain. 

The large profits per acre that can be derived from 



36 RESULTS WHICH MAY BE ATTAINED 

tobacco make the growing of this crop a temptation to 
farmers. It belongs in crop rotation schemes and thus 
becomes a factor in soil improvement. Tobacco is suc- 
cessfully grown all over the south. It has been crowded 
out by grain farming and dairying in most of the north- 
ern states. The crop pays well, however, in New England 
and is exceptionally fine there. It is also profitable in 
parts of Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Iowa, 
although it does not receive any great amount of atten- 
tion in the central west. Any farmer having clover, 
sugar beets, potatoes, cabbage, onions and the usual rota- 
tive crops ought to give tobacco a trial. 

In February, 1912, 2,500,000 bushels of potatoes came 
here from Ireland and other European countries. Dur- 
ing the eight months ended in February, breadstuffs to 
the value of $10,000,000 were imported by us, against 
$3,000,000 worth of similar commodities in 1902. Onions, 
beans and fruits to the value of millions of dollars are 
brought in every season. This proves that our farmers 
have been remiss and that their vocation will pay better 
when they fully supply their home markets with commodi- 
ties which can be raised anywhere in this country. 

In 1870 there were engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
approximately, 47.36 per cent of the population ; in 1910, 
only 32 per cent. From this, it is apparent, the farmer 
now is producing to feed two citizens beside himself, 
whereas forty years ago he labored to feed only one. 

Any state could add from $250,000 to $1,000,000 to the 
revenue of each of its counties annually by an average in- 
crease of five bushels per acre in its yield of corn and 
wheat. If each acre of improved agricultural land in this 
country could be made to yield only one additional bushel 
of produce, 12,500 extra trains of fifty cars each would 
be required to move the aggregate increased yield. Eighty 
bushels of corn will make more net profit in one year 
than a fifty-bushel acreage for four years — for about 



RESULTS WHICH MAY BE ATTAINED 37 

forty bushels yearly is required to come out even on high- 
priced land. Truths of this sort are what our farmers 
need to grasp, for the ten-year average yield of wheat 
in this country is fourteen bushels per acre, while Ger- 
many's is twenty-eight bushels, England's thirty-two 
bushels, and Denmark's more than forty bushels. 

Of course farmers who wish to diversify and get a 
large percentage of retail prices must consider the matter 
of location. Transportation facilities and the nearness 
to large markets are two of the first questions. Nature 
does 90 per cent of the work in producing from the soil — 
man does all the work in transporting that which is pro- 
duced to the market where it can be turned quickly into 
money. 

The farmers of Jefferson county, Wisconsin, realize 
from their cows, in milk product, over two million dol- 
lars annually, while from the sale of cows and heifers 
they receive about $700,000. This combining dairying 
with dairy stock breeding and raising, makes of the 
farmer a much better equipped man all around, while it 
enhances his profits. Most of the milk is handled in 
creameries, and the skimmed-milk product, with the 
abundant corn crops, and alfalfa and clover, enables the 
farmer to turn a fine pork crop every year. 

This all-around dairy farming pays well, w^hen intelli- 
gently managed, with the added advantage that the 
farmer is more his own master, and his calling educates 
him more broadly and more completely. 

Dairy farmers must become better stock raisers than 
they have been, whether they operate east or west, if they 
want larger profits and a larger share in what they earn. 
A few men can not control the butter market, or pork 
market, and the market for cows and heifers, as they do 
the milk market in large cities. 



Succession Crops Feasible 

A BRANCH of farming that affords more than ordinary 
pleasure and profit is that of studying out schemes for 
succession crops. It is quite feasible to raise two or 
more crops in one season on ordinary soil. It will be 
found that this kind of intensive farming is good for the 
soil. There has to be free use of barnyard fertilizer, 
and the plowing, disking, harrowing, rolling, and per- 
haps hoeing, must be in proportion to the amount of pro- 
duction required of the land. Such treatment will build 
up instead of wearing out a plot of ground. These ex- 
amples may be varied as circumstances suggest. 

Lettuce, radishes, onions, peas, carrots and string beans 
may be grown and supplied to customers between the 
1st of May and the middle of June. The ground can 
then be prepared in a few days for the succeeding crops, 
and it will be found that between the ist of July and 
the 1st of October a full crop of these products can be 
grown: Celery, sweet corn, late potatoes, beets, cucum- 
bers, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, onions and turnips. 

At first glance it would seem that there are not many 
vegetables on the list that could be sown successfully as 
late as midsummer, but those tested form quite an array. 
Bush beans, carrots, lettuce, beets, corn, parsley, peas, 
radishes, spinach and turnips all give satisfactory results 
when sown as late as August. They should be put in as 
near the ist of July as possible to make all growth possi- 
ble before frost. The hardy ones cause no anxiety, as 
they endure light frosts. The tender sort, such as beans, 

38 



SUCCESSION CROPS FEASIBLE 39 

cucumbers and spinach, may be saved from the cold by a 
covering of old rugs and similar material. 

As the gardener can not duplicate the cool, moist con- 
ditions of spring for the germination of August seeds, 
he must do the next best thing and firm the soil well 
after sowing. This helps to draw the moisture in the 
soil where the seedlings can use it. When they have made 
a start the surface is to be stirred to form a mulch. 

Bush beans sown as late as August lO have been suc- 
cessfully harvested by October 15. In another case an 
August I sowing of peas yielded full-sized pods in less 
than seven weeks. These were an extra early sort. The 
crop, however, was not so heavy as from spring-sown 
seed. 

Lettuce planted in early August bore leaves large 
enough to use before the middle of September and well 
formed heads from the first week in October until the 
ground was cleared. 

This is only a suggestive outline of the scheme of grow- 
ing succession crops. There are wide possibilities along 
that line, and it is feasible to go still further and sow 
rape as soon as the vegetables are off in September and 
October. By November i this will be in condition for 
forage. Hogs and sheep can feed from this field of rape 
for several weeks before winter sets in, and it is again 
ready for them in the spring. 

So far as the effect on the soil is concerned, it is possi- 
ble to continue the double cropping of vegetables indefi- 
nitely. The land will most likely show improvement 
under such methods of cultivation, but a rotative scheme 
is advisable on small tracts as well as large ones. 



Earning Capacity of Land Requires Study 

Farmers^ as well as their financial friends in town, are 
vitally interested in the earning capacity of land. There 
is more money to be made in farming today than there 
has been in the past because of the permanent high 
prices for produce and an improvement in transportation 
facilities. Live stock and field products bring nearly 
twice as much now as they did ten years ago. 

But what is the earning capacity of land? A farm of 
100 acres can be managed so as to maintain lOO hogs, a 
dairy of 20 cows, half a dozen brood mares, a large 
poultry plant, a garden, an orchard, and an apiary. An 
income of $5,000 on a total expense for wages and family 
maintenance of $1,500 would be a fair estimate. Out of 
the $1,500 expense fund the farmer who is operating on 
business principles will allow himself and family $500 as 
wages. He must consider that he owes himself as much 
as he would any other man for a like amount of work, 
and his wife is entitled to her share in cash. 

This would mean intensive, systematic, businesslike 
farming, but the figures are conservative, and any intel- 
ligent person can obtain these results if such a plan is 
adopted. By doing more with hogs and poultry, the net 
earnings might be increased considerably. It would pay 
to still further diversify by the production of beans, 
onions, and like crops, for which there is always a good 
cash market. 

To gain from fifty acres an income equal to the 
figures given above one would have to drop the dairy and 
go in mainly for hogs, poultry, onions, potatoes, strawber- 

40 



EARXIXG CAPACITY REQUIRES STUDY 41 

ries, cabbage, beans, and perhaps cucumbers and sweet 
corn. Four brood mares could be kept on a fifty-acre 
place to do the work and raise horses for market. After 
two seasons there would be three or four horses to sell 
every year. 

It is reasonably certain that any business man who 
runs a diversified farm as carefully as he conducts a store 
can clean up a satisfactory income from year to year, 
keep up his place in proper order, and have a delightful 
country home. He also will gain considerably in the 
appreciation of land, and he has always the satisfaction 
of knowing that his investment is perfectly safe. 

Let us consider what two farmers in Illinois are 
doing to show the earning capacity of land. One of 
these farmers has 32 acres at Wayne, DuPage County, 
and operates a dairy of 30 cows, besides carrying a fair 
variety of poultry, hogs, etc. He also maintains a team 
of brood mares on the place to do the work. 

This man has observed that cows waste a great deal of 
land. In a drought they scarcely get a living from the 
grass no matter how much of a range they may have, so 
he gives them a small field to run in, and feeds them the 
year around. He puts most of the place into corn and 
fills a silo especially for summer feeding. He buys 
never to exceed $200 worth of mill stuff per year, and 
pays about $300 for wages. His income for milk, pork 
and poultry is not less than $3,000. Under his system 
he cleans up $2,000 a year above living and operating 
expenses. 

In the other case referred to, the farmer started in an 
experimental way on 40 acres. He found that ten good 
cows would give an income of $100 per month, but that 
he had to feed them in the midsummer about the same 
as in the winter. He carried this number for two sea- 
sons, with one hired man. He began with equal caution 
with hogs, raising from 30 to 60 each season. Then he 



42 EARNING CAPACITY REQUIRES STUDY 

increased the dairy to 20 head, and at this time is operat- 
ing one of the most diversified little farms that anyone 
could plan. Two hired hands are employed the year 
around. The 40-acre farm now has 20 cows, 50 hogs, 
400 chickens, 16 hives of bees, 4 horses and a sufficient 
variety of young stock to keep the place up to the present 
basis. An acre of land is devoted to strawberries every 
summer and another to cucumbers. There also have 
been some interesting experiments with alfalfa, alsike 
and such forage crops as rape and artichokes. This little 
farm returns a gross income of nearly $5,000 a year, less 
than $2,000 of which is expense. 

In running a dairy of say 30 cows, two men are needed, 
but this is a sufficient force for much other work along 
the line of fancy or intensive farming. I have seen it 
demonstrated over and over that an acre of strawberries 
will pay the yearly wages of a hired man, and the picking- 
is done at a time when there is no pressure of other work. 
Cucumbers are a still surer crop and pay enormously. 
They are harvested after corn planting, and do not inter- 
fere with the regular work of the farm. It is important 
to have the work so distributed that the men who must 
be kept for the dairy shall have profitable employment for 
the entire day. This is gained by having a diversity. 

The method of management on a 15-acre farm that 
raises all the roughage for 30 head of stock, 17 of which 
are cows in milk, can not fail to be of interest to farmers 
in all parts of the country. The farm in question is situ- 
ated in southeastern Pennsylvania, near a city. About 
13 acres are in cultivation, the remaining 2 acres being 
occupied by buildings, yard, etc. This farm came into 
the possession of a new owner in 1881 with a mortgage 
of $7,200 upon it. For the first year the farm lacked 
$46 of paying expenses. During the next six years the 
mortgage was paid. 

Upon assuming management of the farm the owner, 



EARNING CAPACITY REQUIRES STUDY 43 

a minister with no previous experience in farming, began 
to read what agricultural literature was available. One 
of the first books secured was Quincy's little book on 
the soiling of cattle. As in many parts of this country 
the practice of ''soiling" is not common, it is permissible 
to state that it consists in cutting and feeding green feed 
in summer instead of allowing the animals to run on a 
pasture. 

The system of handling manure is such that none is 
lost, either liquid or solid. No commercial fertilizers 
have ever been used, and no manure has been hauled from 
the city. The crops are all fed, and are thus largely re- 
turned to the land in the manure. Of course much valu- 
able fertilizer is added to the farm annually from the 
rich mill products fed the cows. The roughage is all 
raised on the farm, but all the grain is bought. 

The cows are fed balanced rations every day in the 
year. Every feed consists of three parts. A portion of it 
is some succulent material — silage in winter; and rye, 
timothy and clover, corn, peas and oats, or some other 
green crop in summer. A second portion consists of dry 
hay or fodder. This is used to give the manure proper 
consistency and adds much to the convenience of caring 
for the cows. A third portion consists of mill products, 
of which three kinds are used — bran, oil meal, and gluten. 

The soiling crops used are as follows: Green rye, 
beginning about May i, and continuing about four weeks, 
or until the rye is ready to cut for hay. Then timothy 
and clover are fed till peas and oats are ready. When 
the latter is cut for hay, the silo is opened (about July 
4), and silage is fed till early corn is ready. Enough 
early corn is planted to last till late corn (planted about 
June 22) is ready. Late corn is then fed till it is time to 
put it in the silo. From this time forward silage is fed 
daily till green rye is available in the spring. No abrupt 



44 EARNING CAPACITY REQUIRES STUDY 

change is ever made in the system of feeding. Even the 
change from green corn to silage is made gradually. 

Every particle of roughage fed on this farm, including 
hay and all soiling crops, is cut in quarter-inch lengths. 
Even the bedding is cut in this manner. There are two 
round silos on the farm, each lo feet in diameter and 
34 feet high. These together hold about lOO tons of 
silage, and this quantity of corn silage is produced on 4 
acres. 

We have given the account of a pioneer farmer, start- 
ing in with no experience, but going to work in a method- 
ical manner to learn what he could from the experience of 
others, making a careful study of surrounding conditions, 
and adjusting himself to those conditions. This farmer, 
by applying scientific principles and business methods, has 
blazed a path into a region of great possibilities. The 
most important lesson to be learned from his achieve- 
ments is that it is possible to cause land to yield twice or 
three times as much as the present average from what are 
considered good methods. The place has returned a 
gross income of upward of $2,500 a year, with a total 
expense of about $1,000. It would be feasible to raise 
poultry also on this place. 

Many a farmer fails to get adequate returns from his 
farm because he stays at home too closely, puts in too 
many hours a day following the plow, and does not often 
enough visit good farmers in his neighborhood or other 
sections of the country where good farming is done. 
Furthermore, a man physically exhausted from a long, 
hard day's work is in no condition to follow and get 
much out of the literature of his business as reported 
in farm papers, agricultural bulletins, reports, and books, 
and without the advantage of all the information available 
from every possible source he will find awkward situations 
when he comes to replan his farm for profit. 

Success in farming calls for the very best effort in a 



EARNING CAPACITY REQUIRES STUDY 45 

man along all lines. That best effort is called for in 
replanning a farm for profit. The farmer who is dis- 
satisfied with his income from the farm needs to think 
seriously as to whether or not his farm is planned right 
for the largest returns, remembering that good farming 
calls for keeping up the productiveness of the farm while 
getting maximum crops economically from the soil. 

There should be a cement cistern in connection with 
every dairy barn, for holding the liquid manure. The 
gutters and yard should drain into the cistern. An ordi- 
nary pump will do for raising the liquid to a wagon tank, 
made like an ordinary water sprinkler. It is easy to give 
the land valuable fertilization by this inexpensive outfit. 
This liquid may be put on the bare land or on growing 
crops. It may be hauled to the fields early in the season, 
or even in the winter. For garden plants, also, it has 
great value after they have begun to grow, as well as in 
the preparation of the soil. Few farmers in Europe allow 
liquid manure to go to waste. 

Beef farming is attractive, both from the standpoint 
of net returns and because it favors permanent agri- 
culture. The practical feeder home-grows most of the 
roughage and a considerable portion of the grain that he 
feeds, purchasing such concentrates as cottonseed meal, 
which has a high protein content and is an efficient pro- 
ducer of market bloom and a fat carcass. In addition 
to feeding all that the farm produces and deriving the 
fertilizing value of the resultant manure, fertility is also 
added to the farm in the form of the purchased feed- 
stuiTs. 



Learn How to Go Back to the Land 

Continued difficulties have caused an influx of city 
people to the country. Some prosper and are happy. 
Others find that the "turkeys do not grow on trees and 
already roasted." Those who have been accustomed to 
earning five dollars or more a day see the cash supply 
come slowly, and become discouraged. They do not know 
the principles of farming, and many mistakes are made. 

There are always plenty to advise some great improve- 
ment which will require a goodly outlay of labor — these 
same advisers ever standing ready to do this work at their 
own price. The principle may be correct, but the labor 
bill is liable to be excessive. 

No farmer would expect to go to the city and launch 
into a new business without losing money at the start. 
The sane way is to commence gradually, study conditions 
and methods thoroughly, and then advance with caution. 

Many a city man has gone back to the crowded life 
discouraged, just because he did not know how to com- 
mence. Had he rented a small plot of ground and spent 
his spare moments in making a garden, there would have 
been renewed strength in the exercise, and he would 
have been better prepared in a single season to undertake 
the larger proposition. 

His business principles would enable him to grasp the 
subject with comparative ease; but he should no longer 
follow the time-honored sentiment that the man who does 
not know how to do anything else can farm. 

Farming is now a many-sided proposition. No other 
occupation requires so varied a knowledge. No other 
develops more fully the best that is in man. 

46 



LEARN HOW TO GO BACK TO THE LAND 47 

The good and bad years will average up pretty well, 
after yielding returns more or less remunerative, as deter- 
mined by the amount of knowledge possessed by the 
grower and the degree of skill with which this knowledge 
is brought to bear upon the problems incident to the 
business. 

The factor of market is one that enters largely into the 
problem of securing adequate returns for our labors, and 
with such perishable products as small fruits under cer- 
tain conditions, the problem ofttimes becomes a serious 
one. 

The value of a product at any given time is determined 
by the law of supply and demand. The consuming class 
of any prescribed district will use but a certain quantity 
of any product at a value which will allow the grower 
exceptional remuneration. The demand at such values 
will always be within a prescribed limit, as an exceptional 
value causes any food products to become a luxury. 

To illustrate : The strawberries on a certain market are 
selling freely at 15 cents per box. There is just about 
an even balance between supply and demand. We will 
suppose that the supply of such fruit on the market be 
increased 50 per cent. Will the entire amount then sell 
at 15 cents? Most assuredly not! 

Drop the price to 12^ cents, however, and the increase 
in consumption will provide a market for the increased 
supply, for those who have been eating 15-cent berries 
will eat more freely of this fruit, and some who cannot 
afford to buy at the higher price will begin to do so at 
the lower figure. 

A still greater increase in the quantity of such fruit 
placed upon the market will cause a still further decline 
in values, in order to maintain an even balance between 
supply and demand. 

To be sure, when united in an association, growers 
may, through this association, often maintain more equa- 



48 LEARN HOW TO GO BACK TO THE LAND 

ble values ; but the sphere of such influence must always 
be within prescribed limits. 

The most important factor, perhaps, in demoralizing 
prices of products, svich as small fruits, is the farmer 
grower who has but a small area devoted to their culture, 
and who sells the surplus for what can be most readily 
obtained, by cutting prices to the limit. 

If the entire output of such stuff could be handled 
through an exchange, extreme slumps in values, market 
conditions extremely annoying to regular growers, might, 
at times, be avoided, for such extreme lowering of prices 
is ofttimes entirely unnecessary to make the demand keep 
pace with supply. 

This manner of disposing of or preventing such unde- 
sirable conditions is, however, beset with not a few obsta- 
cles. To insure the success of such a plan requires 
exceptional ability on the part of the promoters. 

As between the home and distant market, the former is 
the safer proposition. So between the larger and smaller 
centers of population, the former usually affords the safer 
market. In deciding upon a location, then, these points 
should be deeply considered. 

One of the most prominent school officials in the north- 
west received his start in life as a result of a venture in 
fruit growing. He was born on a farm in Michigan and 
the conditions surrounding his boyhood days were hard. 
The father and his two boys toiled early and late on a 
farm of lOO acres. They had a poor bit of land, and both 
crops and prices were disappointing. Debt hung over the 
family like a pall. They could not sell their place at any 
reasonable figure. One day the father said : 

"Boys, we'll either lose everything we have, or get out 
of this rut. I know of sixty acres that would be just right 
for fruit. We can buy it on easy terms, and by selling 
off some of our stock we can make a fair payment." 

They took the place and set out ten acres of fruit trees 



LEARN HOW TO GO BACK TO THE LAND 49 

the first season. In six years they were out of debt and 
the boys were entering college. They have risen to dis- 
tinction in professional life. The aged father still owns 
the two farms and is in comfortable circumstances, but he 
has never made any money from grain raising. 

Had it not been for some special lines such as fruit and 
poultry, which he was driven to by dire necessity, he 
would have lost what he started with and would have 
been forced to cast his sons adrift without even a 
common-school education. The sons are city men, but 
they own farms and conduct them on diversified lines. 
They have their land to fall back on in case of reverses 
in their other vocations. 

This story could be duplicated in ten thousand cases 
where farmers failed abjectly until they began to diver- 
sify. The special opportunity just now is for a line of 
produce which finds a ready market in large cities. The 
constant cash dem.and and the good shipping facilities 
give farmers in the older states an advantage over those 
who are located farther from the trade centers. 

A person of limited means, who is operating a small 
tract near a city, should aim to supply a given number of 
customers with fresh eggs every week the year through. 
If hens are properly cared for, a flock of 200 will yield 
a revenue of $25 per month in eggs and $10 in broilers. 
Add to this $35 an income of $15 from ducks, making 
the poultry department earn a total of $50 per month. 
Chickens and ducks are delicacies when eight to ten weeks 
old, and help to distribute the profits over the season. 

About once a month, through cold w^eather, there ought 
to be dressed pork for private customers. Pigs that 
weigh 150 to 200 pounds are desirable for this class of 
trade, and command good prices. They can be disposed 
of in sections. There is a keen demand for country 
sausage, and the small farmer should make it now and 
again in winter. Twenty pigs will net $300, or an average 



50 LEARN HOW TO GO BACK TO THE LAND 

of $25 a month. A farmer, man or woman, who uses a 
little good judgment in conducting a small tract, will 
make five acres produce $600 worth of potatoes, onions, 
beans, cabbage and celery. These crops distribute the 
summer work nicely and supply a line of produce for 
which there is a steady demand. 

The items named furnish a living income without half 
testing the capacity of a tract of twenty acres. There 
could be as much more from strawberries, apples, cher- 
ries and honey. There is work for a span of horses, and 
if a couple of mares are kept, it is feasible to raise colts, 
which is another source of income. If the place amounts 
to as much as forty acres, a dairy of ten or twelve cows 
may be kept. This yields a substantial profit after allow- 
ing $400 a year for wages. By leaving out the dairy, an 
ordinary family can do most of the work on a small farm. 

I have a yard of bees which worked in a field of buck- 
wheat containing about 10 acres. No other buckwheat 
was within reach of them. They brought in over $200 
worth of buckwheat honey from this small field. 
This is an average of over $20 per acre. The flow of 
basswood honey, secured almost entirely from the yield 
on an adjoining farm, netted several hundred dollars. 
These yields may surprise many, but they are not ex- 
cessive. I have, during an exceptional year, secured a 
yield treble the above from buckwheat, and have har- 
vested a crop of $480 worth of honey from a basswood 
grove of less than 10 acres. Honey represents one of the 
largest crops, and nine-tenths of it is allowed to go to 
waste. It might be harvested at less expense than any 
other crop produced. The reason why farmers have not 
kept abreast of the times in bee keeping is hard to find. 



Avoid the Single Farming Interest 

The unsatisfactory condition of the dairy business shows 
the folly of depending on one commodity for success. If a 
farmer will give some of his energy to raising pork, beef, 
mutton, poultry, fruit and vegetables, he can gradually 
draw out of the production of milk, and will find his 
profits steadily growing. 

It ought not to be difficult for a farmer owning a herd 
of cows to push forward a lot of hogs, calves and beef 
animals. He need not give up live stock raising because 
one branch of it is unprofitable. A fair proportion of 
horses, cattle, sheep and swine is advisable in order to 
keep up soil fertility. The needful thing is to avoid any 
single farming interest. Diversity is the order of the day, 
and will bring big profits to the farmer who makes his 
operations conform to market requirements. 

As beef is extremely profitable just now, owing to a 
general scarcity, this is a safe line of enterprise for 
farmers, especially those who have dairy herds. 

The feed problem is less difficult in this channel than 
in dairying, and all farmers ought to aim to keep up with 
the times in providing both early and late fodder crops 
and silage. 

Any who have determined to turn from dairying to 
beef production, wholly or in part, should get a good 
Hereford or Shorthorn sire and develop stock suitable 
to the new programme. These breeds will make beef 
more cheaply than most of the others. In buying cattle 
to fatten for market, none will pay better than the breeds 
named. 

There is a great future for the silo in this country. By 

51 



52 AVOID SINGLE FARMING INTEREST 

enabling farmers to keep a much larger number of ani- 
mals, there will be no excuse for worn-out land. The 
increased amount of manure, combined with careful rota- 
tion of crops, will result in larger producing capacity. 

Cattle are not the only animals to which silage can be 
fed. I have fed it to dairy cows, sheep, hogs, calves and 
horses. It is a great aid in the production of beef and 
pork as well as milk. 

Raw ground beans are valuable as a feed for fattening 
cattle, particularly if used with corn or corn silage and 
some clover or alfalfa hay. The analysis of field beans 
shovv's 23.2 per cent protein, 54,9 of starchy material, 5.7 
of ash and 1.5 of fat. Compared to cottonseed meal, 
which is so widely used by feeders, the beans contain 
about half as much protein and one-sixth as much fat. 
Soy beans are a good deal richer than field beans in feed 
value, being closely com.pared to cottonseed meal. Up to 
four or five pounds a day per 1,000 pounds live weight 
should be profitable, and would go best with some corn. 
About half that amount of soy bean meal would supply 
the same amount of protein, but would require more corn 
to balance it up. 

Men differ as to the best methods of feeding and best 
feeds as much as they differ on a great many other sub- 
jects. The more v/e raise on our farms for feed for 
steers, the better we are off, and I think that fact is fully 
realized. It is an easy matter to purchase large quanti- 
ties of expensive feeds, but will the final account justify 
the act? We should have a variety of feeds, and use 
them in a way that will be to the best interest all around. 



Getting the Most Out of an Acre 

The most intensively cultivated region in Europe is that 
part of the province of Valencia, Spain, which lies be- 
tween the mountains and the Mediterranean. It has a 
rainfall of only about seventeen inches a year, but so 
fertile is the soil and so skilled are its workers that it 
produces crops worth an average of $640 an acre. There 
are districts where 100 acres support 160 families and 
where single families live on the product of four-tenths of 
an acre. Farms are rented at about $30 an acre, and the 
tenant pays 48 cents an hour for pumped water, which 
flows in a stream of 200 gallons a minute. Almost all 
farming is done by hand, as minute attention is given to 
crops and even to individual plants. The average produc- 
tion of the principal crops is as follows, in metric tons of 
2,204 pounds: Oranges, 400,000 tons; olives, 65,000; 
carob beans, 72,000; peanuts, 13,500; melons, 36,000; 
grapes, 87,000; peppers, 12,000; tom.atoes, 27,000; Vvheat, 
62,000; barley, 18,000; corn, 38,000; rice, 200,000. 

Denmark contains only some 15,000 square miles. It 
maintains 2,500,000 persons and exports annually about 
$150,000,000 worth of butter, bacon and eggs. Danish 
butter invariably brings the highest price of any offered 
in the British market, and the quantity of these three 
exports is maintained equally with its quality, summer 
and winter. 

Dr. Maurice Francis Egan, our Minister to Denmark, 
says: "Today the Danish farmer buys nothing individu- 
ally. He uses no seeds till they have been tested by the 
experts furnished by the co-operative society. He buys 
his fertilizers, saya beans from Alanchuria, cotton and 

53 



54 GETTING THE MOST OUT OF AN ACRE 

meal from the United States, through the co-operative 
society. He never kills his own hogs — though there are 
500 hogs to every 1,000 persons in Denmark — but sends 
them to the co-operative bacon factories, which were 
founded some time in the 8o's, when Germany refused 
the Danish hog because of an outbreak of swine fever. 
The Danes instantly founded, with the assistance of the 
Government, large co-operative bacon factories. In order 
to make dairying possible, the Dane had to regenerate the 
land exhausted by the lack of scientific treatment. 

''Being an educated man, he was an open-minded man, 
and he induced his Government to furnish scientific 
experts who could finally answer any question he might 
ask. As an example, let us take the small farmer, with 
three cows, three hogs, four head of cattle, and a horse 
or two. He farms perhaps twelve acres. Now, it is a 
question with him as to the rotation of his crops; it is 
a question as to the amount of butter fat that each 
cow should produce. He has, through the co-operative 
society, the use of a scientific expert, who visits his farm 
every eighteen days and answers all these questions, after 
consultation with him. 

"Furthermore, he keeps a duplicate set of books for the 
farmer, so that the farmer knows exactly the amount of 
butter fat each cow yields every week, when the cows are 
expected to calve, the value of the service of every bull 
in use, and the exact position of the farmer, economically 
and agriculturally. For this service the farmer pays the 
expert 30 cents yearly per cow, the Government paying 
the rest of the expert's salary, the expert being attached 
to the Royal Danish Co-operative Society." 

These little farms of ten or twelve acres in Denmark 
commonly return the owner $800 to $1,200 profit in addi- 
tion to family expenses and all costs of operating. It is 
not unusual for tracts of vegetables and flowers to pay 
$300 to $500 per acre. 



GETTING THE MOST OUT OF AN ACRE 55 

Joseph Gould, an Illinois truck farmer, has for years 
cleared an average of $150 per acre on his land, in the 
western part of Cook county. Mr. Gould last season had 
a profit of $1,800 from ten acres, and his experience 
attracted general attention. 

An acre of celery brought upward of $500, and before 
the celery plants were put out the same land produced a 
nice crop of earlier vegetables. The beets, carrots and 
tomatoes have been below the average in price, or his 
income would have been larger, for the yield w^as heavy. 
Mr. Gould has produced three crops of radishes and let- 
tuce in a single season, and his land is kept in perfect 
condition. Nearly the entire tract raises two crops of 
vegetables within five months. 

No ground is allowed to be idle ; intensive cropping is 
practiced ; early vegetables are carefully looked after, and 
a home market direct to the consumer for the greater part 
of the products is made by honest and courteous treatment. 

His specialties before celery time are early peas, toma- 
toes, onions, radishes and lettuce, all of which grow rap- 
idly enough so that the land can be used twice. Sweet 
corn, squashes, cucumbers, turnips and popcorn are grown 
every season, and for two years he has experimented with 
peppers. These thrive finely. 

Crop rotation is methodically followed by Mr. Gould, 
in order to obtain the results noted. This is important for 
other reasons. It helps to destroy insects and fungous 
diseases, and provides fresh organic matter which decays 
quickly in the soil and by its stimulating action liberates 
from the soil itself more plant food than would otherwise 
be available. This successful truck farmer studies out the 
best methods of money-making and helps his neighbors to 
place their land on a paying basis. 

Illinois florists with an investment of $10,000 or less for 
greenhouses and heating plants are able to clear $5,000 to 



56 GETTING THE MOST OUT OF AN ACRE 

$8,000 from the production of flowers. They do not 
require more than two or three acres of land. 

Orcharding is an attractive proposition. With sixty 
trees to an acre, of either apples or cherries, a nice income 
is secured from a small tract, with less labor than is 
required in other lines. A return of $250 to $400 per acre 
may be expected. Other fruits do equally well or better. 

The following figures on production of apples were 
compiled by Mr. James O. Read, himself an expert horti- 
culturist, while in the capacity of president of the State 
Board of Horticulture of Montana. While the figures 
given are based on the productiveness of the Mcintosh 
Red apple, which takes first place in Mr. Read's state, 
they apply equally well to the popular Jonathan, which 
still strongly rivals the Mcintosh Red and other fine vari- 
eties. From his experience as a fruit grower, and from 
other growers in the same district, Mr. Read places pro- 
duction of apples per tree at three-fourths of a box for 
the fifth year, one and one-half boxes for the sixth year, 
three boxes for the seventh year, four boxes for the 
eighth year, five boxes for the ninth year, and six boxes 
for the tenth year. On the foregoing basis is com.piled 
the following statement of annual net profits from a 
standard apple orchard of ten acres, eighty trees to the 
acre: Fifth year, 600 boxes at $1.10 net, $660; sixth, 
1,200 at $1.10, $1,320; seventh, 2,400 at $1.10, $2,640; 
eighth, 3,200 at $1.10, $3,520: ninth, 4,000 at $1.10, 
$4,400; tenth, $4,800 at $1.10, $5,280. 



Plans to Keep Young People Interested 

One of the problems that is all the time tugging at the 
heart of the farmer of this country is the absence from 
the farm of the young man. There are many neighbor- 
hoods in which not one in ten of the male members of 
the community may be truthfully called a young man. It 
used to be thought that the time of the young man 
belonged to his father till he was ''one-and-twenty" ; but 
the day of his departure has gradually dropped until now 
long before he is of age he is away at some other kind of 
business. With all the drift toward the country that we 
hear so much about today, it is a drift of men quite well 
along in years, and not a movement which takes the boys 
and young men back to nature. The shops, the factories, 
the stores and the offices are swallowing up sturdy young 
fellows everywhere. 

Some of the best farmers of this country are finding a 
solution of the young-man question in the plan of settling 
their sons early on the farm. If these farmers are fortu- 
nate enough to be the owners of large farms, the problem 
is easier of solution ; for then they may cut the old home- 
stead up into two or three good-sized farms, build houses 
on these, and have their children near to them as long as 
they live. 

This is a happy method of working out the problem. 
As the father and mother grow old, and less able to carry 
on the farm v/ork themselves, they may have within easy 
call their boys and girls. Where a spirit of harmony and 
love exists between the different members of the family 
this state of affairs may be said to be almost ideal. 

57 



58 TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED 

In case the old farm cannot be thus parceled out, it is 
nearly always possible to buy lands not far away upon 
which the young people may be located. The father may 
assume the responsibility of the purchase of these farms, 
giving the children a chance to pay for them on easy 
terms, and after a long lease of time, if desired, or if his 
own financial condition will permit, he may buy the lands 
desired, and give the deed to his children. This has a 
great point of advantage in the fact that thus the father 
and mother may, to a large extent, be the administrators 
of their own estates. This prevents much of the strife 
that comes up where the matter of settling up the estate is 
left until after the death of the parents. 

The extension of this plan of settling the young people 
on nearby farms would do more than any other one thing 
to give us a satisfactory answer to the question: How 
shall we keep our young people on the farm? Let the 
children understand that when they are of legal age they 
shall have a place, either with the parents on the old farm 
or on a farm near the homestead, and the drift away from 
the country will receive a decided check. 

Young men who have an ambition to conduct a farm 
on progressive lines ought to have the earnest support of 
their parents — not only because modern methods pay, but 
because they will be likely to hold the interest of a studi- 
ous and energetic boy. 

The modern farmer is not simply a corn planter, a 
wheat grower, a cattle breeder, a sheep feeder, or a poul- 
try raiser, but often all of these and more combined. His 
farm, therefore, must be planned with reference to all of 
these operations and the harmonious dovetailing together 
of the different parts. In planning his farm for profit, 
the farmer must see all the different problems in a com- 
prehensive way at the outset, omit the features that do 
not pay, and strengthen those that do. 

He will soon perceive that his sons and daughters, if 



TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED 59 

they are reading people, are keenly interested in every 
move that indicates progress. They will co-operate in all 
betterment projects and will in time come to appreciate, 
the advantages of their country life and vocation. It is 
important for young people to see that they have fine 
opportunities right at home. 

The entertaining stories that are published from day 
to day about persons who have accomplished astonishing 
things by moving to some other part of the country do 
not always serve a good purpose. 

It depends mainly on the man himself whether he is 
going to prosper anywhere or not. The many alluring 
things which are published to attract farmers are designed 
first of all to sell the land. They are not issued from 
philanthropic motives, and the individual will always find 
that success depends on his own efforts and intelligence, 
no matter what his environments may be. 

It is interesting to learn of old friends who have "made 
good" in a new locality, and it is pleasant to think of the 
good times we might have in some other climate or on 
some other kind of farm ; but we must not forget that the 
lure of the big farm, the fruit ranch, the mild winters, 
and other far-away things have been fatal to scores where 
they have drawn one to afiluence. 

When a man is east, he is apt to think that the west 
offers him golden opportunities. When he is west, he sees 
the advantage of the eastern markets and transportation. 
If he has been drawn south, he may discover that the 
warm climate takes the tuck out of him, while in the far 
north it may turn out to be too cold for a comfortable 
living. The truth is that all sections of this republic are 
good, and all have special advantages. 

A practical farm mother in Wisconsin has solved a 
problem which had become the most serious of her life. 
Incidentally, she may have conferred a benefit on the 
farming community generally. 



60 TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED 

Her growing children, a son and a daughter, were 
becoming tired of the old home, and had an ambition to 
try city life. Having acquired a dislike for the farm, 
they were planning to go out into the world and do for 
themselves. 

The more animated these young folks became over 
their new ambition, the more painful the subject became 
to their parents. IMother love and sense finally found a 
way to settle the question in a manner pleasing to all. 

It was proposed to try some experiments along the line 
of modern farming and to give the boy and girl an oppor- 
tunity to own something for themselves and enjoy the 
profits resulting from their efforts. The mother offered 
to furnish the capital necessary for raising squabs on a 
large scale, with the understanding that the son and 
daughter would care for the birds, and the three share in 
the proceeds. 

The sagacious proposition aroused interest at once, and 
the project was launched. Every day brought new and 
interesting developments, and, with some modification of 
the other labors which had been required of them, the old 
farm became an attractive place to the young folks. 

The squab industry has now been growing on their 
hands for two years, and is highly profitable. The 
resourceful mother has brought forward other ideas for 
stimulating the interest and energy of her children, who 
are today happy in their country life. All idea of going 
to live in town has been abandoned. Mother wit has 
saved the boy and the girl for the farm. 

Either individual ov/nership or profit-sharing is a good 
thing to institute among the young people in the country. 
If the working day can be made shorter and the drudgery 
of the farm lessened, boys and girls will not be so eager 
to go to the city. 

If the average farmer worked about one-half as much 
land, and diversified his efforts so as to secure an income 



TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED 61 

every month of the year, he would be better off and his 
family would be happier. 

For instance, an acre of ground under greenhouses 
devoted to flowers would yield better returns than fifty 
acres of wheat or corn, besides affording a delightful 
occupation for the family. An acre of strawberries will 
ordinarily return larger profits than ten acres of grain. 
The market for truck and fruit grows better yearly. The 
little things give variety and spice to life on the farm — 
and they pay better from every point of view. 

]\Iany boys and girls might be saved from the follies 
and misfortunes of city life if their parents Vv^ould put 
some thought into new plans for arousing their interest 
in home affairs. Give them plots of ground for their 
own use, and encourage them in making experiments with 
vegetables and fruits. A delightful way is for the young 
folks to form a partnership if they are old enough to do 
useful work about the farm. The girls should have 
charge of poultry and flowers, while the boys manage 
vegetables and fruit. 

Young people who live in a city, and would like to try 
country life, have an excellent opportunity to gain a valu- 
able experience and earn money during vacation by tilling 
the soil. No plan could be better than this for the many 
who are working their way through school. The produc- 
tion of vegetables and flowers is immensely profitable, as 
there is a constant cash demand in every town, big and 
little. 

The pleasure of such an experiment, if rightly con- 
ducted, would be hard to exaggerate. It is nearly always 
possible to obtain a small tract of land convenient to a car 
line. One point to be considered is that there is little time 
to waste in walking. The rent would be $io to $20 for 
two acres. 

Boys or girls who already live on a farm, and w^ho have 
an ambition to test their ability in some fancy line of pro- 



62 TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED 

duction, should get up a profit-sharing scheme. Undoubt- 
edly they would find their parents as willing and eager as 
themselves, not merely to develop additional sources of 
revenue but to stimulate a love for farming among their 
sons and daughters. 

For young people who wish to see what they can 
accomplish with land, a partnership of two is best. This 
is because there is a great deal of work in connection with 
raising and marketing flowers and vegetables, and the 
enthusiasm is most likely to be kept up when there are 
partners to share the labor and planning. 

It is best to begin the enterprise by arranging for a 
little help from some one who can furnish a team at odd 
times. There will be some hauling of vegetables all sum- 
mer, but perhaps the team would not be required more 
than twice a week. It would be quite feasible to rent a 
horse and wagon for the season or even to buy them. 

If such vegetables as lettuce, radishes, onions, beets and 
carrots are planted during May, the first crop can be 
taken from the ground in July, and a second crop 
put in. Celery, onions, beets and cabbage work nicely 
into this scheme. A good crop of potatoes ought to be 
secured between June i and September 15. The late 
vegetables will require some attention after school opens, 
and a little help may have to be hired. 

I would advise renting the land for two or three sea- 
sons, for a lot of preparatory work can be done in 
the spring, on Saturdays and at odd times, enabling the 
young farmers to raise two crops. A study in double 
cropping is advisable, for it means extra profits. An 
enterprise of this kind, properly conducted, on a couple 
of acres will return an income of several hundred dollars, 
besides affording a vast amount of pleasure and valuable 
experience. 

Make an effort to keep the weeds out of the land and 
do not allow the soil to become caked. After the first lot 



TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED 63 

of quick-growing produce has been taken off, stir up the 
land with disk or cultivator, and replant. Nearly all suc- 
cessful gardeners make their land produce two crops of 
vegetables in a season. On a tract of two acres, a plan 
something like the following should be adopted : 

Plant one acre to potatoes, half an acre to lettuce, rad- 
ishes, beets and carrots, and half an acre to onions. For 
the second part of the season, put out a quarter of an 
acre of celery, a quarter of an acre of beets, an acre of 
late cabbage and half an acre of onions. If the young 
farmers find the season going too fast for them, they 
should not attempt two crops that year, but get ready to 
follow the programme outlined for the next summer. 

All of the products named return large profits. Cab- 
bage ought to pay at the rate of $200 an acre; celery, 
$400; onions, $250; beets and carrots, $100; potatoes, 
$150. There is no exaggeration in the figures given. Any 
industrious youth can gain a fine income in this way. 
The only capital required is for seed, rent of land and 
such team work as must be done. I will say frankly that 
there will be mistakes and accidents which will upset some 
of the calculations, but these will be few after the first 
season. Hence I advise taking the land for two or more 
years. 

A farmer reports that in a single season seventeen acres 
of pickles and thirty-one acres of onions and onion sets 
cashed in far more than the market value of the expensive 
land on which they grew. Last year he broke the record 
with $4,600 from ten acres of onions. For five years he 
has averaged $190 an acre from pickles. 



Profit Sharing with Fruit and Vegetables 

The difficulty of keeping young people interested in farm 
work and rural life has made me an advocate of profit- 
sharing. After taking part in a number of experiments 
along this line, I am firmly convinced that the principle 
is a good one to put in force. It need not be very exten- 
sive at first, but when boys and girls are growing up and 
deciding on a vocation, the profit-sharing system ought 
to be adopted, and include the whole farm. 

While the young folks are putting in about half their 
time at school, and rendering substantial help through the 
summer, and perhaps nights and mornings, they are apt 
to feel the drudgery of farm life, and begin making plans 
to get away as soon as possible. 

This is a critical period, and many parents fail to 
bring the minds of their sons and daughters back to an 
enjoyment of their farm home. It is usually the long- 
hours of seemingly thankless toil that cause the boys and 
girls to dislike agriculture and rush to the cities. I con- 
tend that profit-sharing is one of the first steps necessary 
to remedy this great difficulty in the country. It not only 
has the element of fairness and justice in it but it may 
serve to stim.ulate interest in agricultural pursuits, and so 
mold the entire career of a young man or woman. 

I would begin by allowing the boys and girls to have 
a share in such things as poultry, bees, live stock and fruit 
— most particularly fruit. For one thing, this would 
result in the production of more and better fruit on the 
average farm. Orchards are shamefully neglected by 
most people who carry on general farming. The work 

G\ 



PROFIT SHARING 65 

required to keep trees in proper condition is of a kind 
that can be put off, and in the pressure of other things 
during the fall and spring rush, it usually is deferred until 
the orchard is an unsightly waste. It is much the same 
with all kinds of small fruits. This, also, is looked upon 
as a side issue, and therefore neglected. 

Apples, cherries, berries and various other fruits can 
be grown with profit in all parts of this country, with the 
possible exception of two or three of the most northerly 
prairie states. Can any one say that apples or cherries 
pay less than grain, or require more work ? 

The truth is, they pay far better per acre than any of 
the ordinary farm crops. It is only through neglect that 
they fail to return liberal profits, and if each farmer 
would get up a profit-sharing plan with regard to his 
fruit, and bring in the entire family, including the hired 
help, there would be a lot of pleasure in the project, and a 
nice sum of money for every individual concerned. 

In one case that I have in mind, an old orchard of about 
twenty apple trees was extended until it occupies four 
acres, and there is an additional acre of strawberries and 
raspberries near by. This five-acre fruit tract is a joint 
family enterprise. The head of the house gets his share 
for furnishing the land and the money required to buy 
the young trees. He has been investing about $20 a year 
in young trees, to secure new varieties and increase the 
acreage. Last year alone he received $300 as his share 
of the profits on five acres. Two sons and his wife and 
daughter get a like amount each, there being a revenue 
of $1,500. It was a favorable fruit season, and the 
returns may be less on an average. However, there is an 
abundance of pin money in that family, and the young 
people are receiving some wholesome training. They are 
learning to raise fruit in a businesslike way ; to care for 
the trees ; to meet market needs, and to handle money 
that comes to them as a result of their skill and industry. 



New Vocation for the City Family 

The city family taking a little farm should be impressed 
with the fact that the novelty is pretty sure to wear off 
and leave the work irksome and in some cases unsatisfac- 
tory. For this reason, every step must be carefully con- 
sidered. The location is the first thing to be determined. 
If city employment is to be continued, it is imperative to 
have the farm home within an hour's run. Otherwise, too 
much time is wasted in traveling back and forth and too 
much money spent for transportation. 

A farm located within the range of suburban service 
permits city employment, affords good market facilities, 
insures school and social advantages, and is quite sure to 
advance in value, so that the investment may be profitable 
in case circumstances ever compel a change. 

It would be well to do with a very small tract — say, 
twenty acres — for the sake of the advantages enumerated. 
This land is worth, ordinarily, $4,000, and house, barn 
and other improvements will make the aggregate $6,000 
at the very least. If there are resources in the family, it 
would be wise to make the investment about $7,000, in 
order that the dwelling might be tasty and comfortable. 

The earning power of such a place, devoted to poultry, 
vegetables, fruit, etc., is $2,000 a year and upward. This 
is a large interest on the $7,000 invested. If the average 
salaried man can clear $2,000 in addition to the main part 
of the family living, he can afford to give his whole 
time to the farm, even if he has to pay interest on the 
investment. 

With most people getting started on a little farm, it has 

66 



NEW VOCATION FOR CITY FAMILY 67 

to be a straight business proposition. The head of the 
family must count his or her time worth at least $i,ooo 
and another $i,ooo is to be reckoned for investment and 
improvements, if any progress is to be made. Granting 
that visible conditions are in line with these suggestions, 
the owner need not be afraid of a farm enterprise. If 
he has a little capital, and is known as a man of sense and 
character, any banker will carry the necessary debt for 
him, and give him a chance to work out the problem to its 
logical conclusion. If members of the family have the 
taste and ability to handle poultry, flowers, vegetables and 
fruit, there need be no doubt about ultimate success. 

A line of work must be chosen which will appeal to the 
young people. It is a safe proposition that no little farm 
project will fail if the boys and girls of the family are 
interested. If they enjoy their work on the land, they will 
soon come to appreciate the possibilities of this location. 
Once they see that it can be made to pay better than the 
ordinary city employment, their interest will be stimulated 
and they will be contented with country life. 

The diversity of products on a twxnty-acre tract can 
be sufficient to give to each member of the family a 
certain responsibility as well as a share in the profits. 
Such lines as live stock, poultry, gardening and floricul- 
ture appeal strongly to young people, and, fortunately, 
there are large profits in these features. If bees, squabs, 
mushrooms or other novelties that possess practical value 
can be added, so much the better. 

If it is desired to have a tract larger than twenty acres, 
the same investment, or even a smaller one, will do by 
locating farther from the city. When a place is chosen 
several miles from a station, a line of products must be 
handled which will not require quick marketing. It is 
practicable to raise poultry, hogs, potatoes and fruit when 
the location is so far out that not more than one trip a 
week can be made. 



68 NEW VOCATION FOR CITY FAMILY 

Occasionally city people who have saved a little money 
consult me about getting started on a farm. It is neces- 
sary to have some capital, and the more the better, but 
the situation is always hopeful for the family that has 
prudence and energy sufficient to accumulate $i,ooo. 

To move from the city to the country, with no capital, 
would appear to be a serious undertaking, and the writer 
would not advise city people to undertake it. However, 
if a small capital has been saved up, the move can be 
made. 

A good method of procedure for the man with $i,ooo 
would be to select ten acres close to some suburban 
station and within an hour's ride of the city. The price 
would be $1,500 to $2,000. He could get a banker with 
whom he has had business relations, or a personal friend, 
to finance the project to the extent of $3,000 or $4,000. 
It might be best to retain city employment for the first 
year, while equipping the little farm and getting things 
started. 

Substantial progress can be made in this first year. 
The family may start a good garden, an orchard, a 
flock of poultry, keep a few cows and pigs, and grow most 
of their own table supplies. 

If the wife knows how to prepare food and understands 
how to be frugal, the actual money expense for the farm 
living may be made very small, while at the same time the 
standard of living, from the standpoint of food, may be 
much higher than is possible even with wealthy people in 
the city. 

At first the principal aim should be to produce truck 
crops for home consumption. As experience is gained, 
the industry may be enlarged and a market established. 
Many men have made the transition in this manner; 
others have started with one or two cows, and have let 
the business grow from the profits obtained in it ; others 



NEW VOCATION FOR CITY FAMILY 69 

have succeeded by beginning in a small way with poultry 
or fruit. 

The knowledge gained in this way, both as regards the 
details of farming and concerning methods of market- 
ing, finally enables the beginner to abandon his city 
employment. 

Another method that might be almost equally satisfac- 
tory would be to buy an equipped farm of forty or fifty 
acres, at a price around $5,000, paying $1,000 cash. In 
such circumstances, it would be necessary to give up city 
employment, as there would be plenty of work to occupy 
the entire family. Any industrious man getting this kind 
of a start will succeed. The principal care must be to 
raise a line of produce for which there is a good cash 
demand and which will give the owner something to sell 
every week in the year. An orchard of 200 trees and a 
large poultry plant, from which features an additional 
$3,000 might be cleaned up, could be added. Instead 
of the orchard, he might prefer to erect two or three 
greenhouses, and produce flowers. The profits then would 
be still larger. Potatoes, onions, beans, strawberries, 
celery and asparagus pay nicely. 

The degree of success depends largely on the man and 
his family. Any industrious person can secure a fair 
income and a comfortable living on ten acres. He can do 
it in various lines, but a diversity is the surest way. 

A plan that would distribute the work evenly over the 
season, and insure a fair income, would include three 
acres of corn, two of pasture, two of fruit, two of 
vegetables and one for buildings. This contemplates a 
horse, a cow, chickens, ducks and a few pigs. Something 
is to be gained by using the orchard land for vegetables, 
and the fruit trees will be benefited by this regular and 
thorough cultivation. 



Good Selling Is a Farmer's Need 

Nine-tenths of the writing on agricultural subjects is 
devoted to production. The other tenth has to do with 
selling. It is time to reverse this system of giving infor- 
mation to the farmer. There should be more light on 
methods of selling produce, and less on the way to raise it. 

The farmer needs to be shown how to obtain the larg- 
est possible returns on the things he has ready for market. 
His proportion of what the ultimate consumer pays is 
altogether too small. That is where he needs advice. A 
little practical help along this line would be appreciated by 
men and women who know more about the producing end 
than the writers who are so prolific with ideas on how to 
run a farm. 

As a rule, farmers make poor bargains. They buy 
wrong and sell wrong, and are apt to be imposed upon by 
glib brokers, agents, merchants and other city people with 
whom they have to do business. The farmer needs a cer- 
tain kind of coaching. He may be an expert at one end of 
the business, but after he has raised a nice lot of hogs or 
chickens, or a crop of potatoes and corn, he is at the mercy 
of city people who deal in such products. The city man 
fixes the price on all the farmer has to sell, as well as on 
all he has to buy. 

A berry grower in Cherokee county, Kansas, sold his 
last season's crop for 90 cents a crate. In one crate he 
placed this note : "Will the buyer of this crate of berries 
inform the undersigned, who grew them, how much he 
paid for them ?" In due time a reply came from an ulti- 
mate consumer, in Detroit, Michigan, saying he paid $2.40 

70 



GOOD SELLING IS A FARMER'S NEED 71 

for the crate. Middlemen got $1.50 for finding a buyer 
for these berries, while the farmer, who did all the work 
of growing them, received only 90 cents. 

The Kansas Agricultural College, by the establishment 
of a co-operative buying and selling bureau for all Kan- 
sas farm products, will undertake to save the unneces- 
sary middlemen's profits to farmers in that state. This 
announcement, made by President Waters, before 800 
farmers in the co-operation meeting held in connection 
with the State Farmers' Institute, was greeted with cheers. 
By resolutions, unanimously passed, the meeting, after 
considering many plans, with a determination to do 
something, had just asked the college to establish such 
a bureau. The announcement by President Waters, 
promptly granting the request, came as a surprise. 

A co-operative bureau at the agricultural college will 
be the first of that kind in the United States. When 
developed to its highest efiiciency, which may take several 
years, it will mean a saving of millions of dollars to 
Kansas farmers annually. It will shorten the distance 
between the producer and the consumer, thus promoting 
direct selling. For instance, a farmer with a carload of 
potatoes to sell need not dispose of them to the local 
commission man. Instead, he would list his carload with 
the co-operative bureau. This bureau, in touch with 
markets all over the United States, would immediately 
place him in communication with a market for his pota- 
toes. Whereupon the farmer would ship his product 
direct to the buyer. 

That such a bureau would be successful was apparent 
after the organization of a clearing house for apple grow- 
ers and apple buyers, a year ago. The college had helped 
farmers to find good seed and good breeding stock, but 
the clearing house was the first assistance offered in 
marketing produce. Upon the announcement, last fall, 
that the college was again prepared to open a clearing 



72 GOOD SELLING IS A FARMER'S NEED 

house for apples, 140 letters from buyers and sellers were 
received in one day. Between 300 and 400 cars of apples 
were sold through this department of the extension divi- 
sion last fall. Since then plans for the organization of 
the co-operative bureau have been under way. 

An illustration of what women may accomplish in mar- 
keting produce is furnished by the experience of a mother 
and daughter who own 40 acres near a provincial town in 
the central west. The entire responsibility for the man- 
agement of the place and the care of the family fell to 
their lot recently, owing to the protracted illness of the 
husband and father. 

The following table will show in itself about how the 
farm is divided as to crops, fruits, pasturage, and the way 
the work is diversified. The figures represent one year's 
gross earnings : 

Milk from ten cows $1,400 

Three hundred pounds honey, at 20 cents 60 

Ten hogs fattened, at eleven months 225 

Eggs from 200 hens 240 

Fruit and vegetables 160 

Surplus poultry sold 75 

$2,160 

About $600 may be deducted from this total for wages, 
groceries, repairs and mill feed ; but their apiary, orchard 
and dairy herd are worth several hundred dollars more 
than at the beginning .of the year. 

These women have their horse and carriage, and par- 
ticipate in most of the social affairs of the neighborhood. 
Their life is not all work, but is strenuous enough even 
for these days, when there is a premium set on people 
who do things. 

They say that if they were farther from town, and 
could not have private customers for their produce, they 



GOOD SELLING IS A FARMER'S NEED 73 

could make up the loss by raising more hogs and potatoes 
or such products as do not require too great a proportion 
of man labor. 

By adding a half-acre of cucumbers and an acre of 
strawberries, they are now able to hire more help for the 
out-door work, without decreasing the net earnings of 
the little farm. 

These women farmers, one of whom was equally suc- 
cessful as a schoolteacher, use their brains as well as 
their hands, and their affairs are systematically managed, 
so that each class of work gets proper attention at the 
proper time. 

I have found that the production of market cream pays 
well. It is always salable, costs less to ship than the whole 
milk, and returns more than can be gained by any other 
method of handling. 

The eight-gallon can of milk brings $i to $1.25 at 
wholesale, but the cream from the same quantity brings 
$1.50, besides leaving more than six gallons of warm 
skimmed milk for calves, pigs and poultry. There is a 
further saving in hauling and expressage. 

If the producer serves private customers only, he gains 
the profits of both retailer and wholesaler. The increasing 
demand for cream for family use, ice cream and cooking 
forms a desirable outlet for dairy products. There is 
no danger of over-production. Separating machinery is 
cheap and simple. 

The easiest way to increase an income without greatly 
increasing cost is by raising the margin of profit by pro- 
ducing products of high quality, marketing them at the 
right time, at the right market, and in a neat and attractive 
manner. 

The expense of marketing poultry products is rela- 
tively small, as they contain a high value in small bulk, 
and can be shipped considerable distances with very little 
loss. The best trade in the large cities pays the highest 



74 GOOD SELLING IS A FARMER'S NEED 

premium, and where one can ship a guaranteed amount 
for the entire year, or during the season, of a product 
such as broilers, he can safely try for such a market ; but 
where his output is limited, it is a waste of time. There 
is often a home market which, with a little care, can be 
developed in a satisfactory manner, and will pay the small 
producer much better than the larger city markets. 

According to the poultryman's location and production, 
he may choose any of the following methods of disposing 
of his products : 

Selling direct to the consumer. 

Selling direct to the retailer. 

Selling to the commission merchant. 

Selling direct to the consumer offers the greatest returns 
for the products, as all expenses of commission, etc., are 
eliminated. This market is, however, usually limited, 
unless a parcel post trade is secured in a city or village, 
in which case he can usually develop a retail patronage 
which will take his entire output. 

The most satisfactory method of selling direct to con- 
sumers is to supply hotels, restaurants and clubs, they 
usually contracting for the entire output, for which they 
are generally willing to pay a premium, and it is much 
easier to ship the entire production to one place at certain 
definite times than to spend much time and labor in divid- 
ing the same amount among many small consumers. 

In many cases it will be possible to sell one's eggs and 
dressed poultry direct to some retail grocer, who in turn 
will be glad to get them and pay a good price, as he can 
sell them to his high-class trade, and, knowing that they 
are perfectly fresh, can develop a good business for the 
poultryman. It may be necessary to go to some distant 
city or distributing point to find this market, but it will 
always pay, when once secured. 

Make every customer a friend, and each will bring 
you another customer. The endless chain will then be 



GOOD SELLING IS A FARMER'S NEED 75 

begun, the possibilities of which no one cares to limit. 
To make every customer a friend, it is necessary to treat 
him well, to have the stock sold a little better than it has 
been described, to give full value and something over on 
each order. Sell only first-class stock. Don't let the 
temptation of a few immediate dollars lead you to send 
out stock that will not be a good advertisement for you. 
Every fowl sold is a good advertisement, if the fowl is 
good — a bad advertisement, if the fowl is a bad one. 
Don't use a cull, even if you sell it for a cull. The buyer 
will say to some one that he bought the specimen of you, 
and will be sure to forget to add that he bought it as a 
cull. Culls are a bad advertisement — trade-killers, not 
trade-bringers. They will help to bury you in obscurity, 
not to bring you prominence. Be strictly honest. Tell 
things as they are. Get a reputation for doing just what 
you promise to do, of selling just what you offer to sell. 
Be prompt. People like promptness in business. If you 
say you wall make a shipment of fowls on Monday, ship 
them on Monday, so as not to disappoint the customer. 
If the shipment is unavoidably delayed, write the cus- 
tomer and tell him the fact and the reason for it. 

The most prosperous farmers are those who have had 
the good sense to organize in communities, to control the 
supply of their products, to market them intelligently, and 
place them on sale at a time when the demand is normal 
and at fair prices. Slowly the benefits of organization are 
becoming recognized ; but not until it has been generally 
adopted, and its power exercised in its broadest sense, will 
the farmers of America come to that prosperity which 
their industry and their importance entitle them to. 

It requires more business ability, a higher executive 
faculty, to run a fruit farm than to run a grain farm. If 
you have a hundred bushels of wheat, oats, potatoes or 
corn to sell, you take it to the nearest market and accept 
whatever you are offered. It is not always so with fruit, 



76 GOOD SELLING IS A FARMER'S NEED 

for you can retail the fruit or can more often fix the price 
for the fruit than you can for ordinary farm produce. 
Business abiHty is required in learning where is the best 
market for fruit of a certain character or kind. It is a 
fact that while a certain fruit may be cheap in New 
York, it may sell at a profitable price in Boston, Pitts- 
burgh, or in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago or St. Louis. 

The man who sells fruit should be thoroughly posted on 
its value, and should inform the purchaser of the extra 
quality of certain varieties. 

There are many dishonest commission houses. It is not 
safe to send fruit to a commission house which is not 
highly recommended to you or with which you have not 
had satisfactory experience. 

An Associated Press dispatch says : "Unskillful 
handling of poultry and eggs costs the people of the 
United States $45,000,000 annually, is the conclusion of 
the Kansas State board of health, after six months' in- 
vestigation, in which expert produce men from the de- 
partment of agriculture were used. The price of eggs 
is high, says the report, and competition is keen, but the 
producer gains nothing, not because there is a combina- 
tion to keep the original price to the wholesaler down, 
but because of the manner in which eggs and poultry are 
handled. Because of the large number of farmers who 
are careless in marketing their eggs, the careful farmer 
is forced to accept the same price as is paid his less in- 
dustrious neighbor. In Kansas alone, this loss is estimated 
at more than $1,000,000 a year." 



Parcels Post Brings Dinner Fresh from Farm 

Farmers living anywhere within fifty miles of a city may 
send packages of ten pounds to their customers for 32 
cents. They do not have to haul them to an express 
office three or four miles away, but the rural route wagons 
pick them up and they are delivered in town almost as 
promptly as are letters or other mailable articles. The 
new law allows the transportation of any kind of produce, 
provided it is securely wrapped. Eggs, honey, berries, 
butter and cream are not excluded, but they must be so 
packed that they can not damage other mail matter. Such 
products are to be marked "Perishable." 

The system of handling country produce has been both 
expensive and bad. Fresh eggs, pure cream and dainty 
things like broilers and sausage have been hard to get at 
any price. Such articles are only an aggravation when 
they are stale and handled in promiscuous lots. Under 
the new plan, a ten-pound Sunday dinner, or such a ship- 
ment any day or every day, will go straight from the 
farmer to the city family, at a cost of 32 cents for postage. 
This 3 cents a pound added to the price of the products is 
a trifle compared to the transportation and middlemen's 
charges under the old system. 

The parcels post will prove a boon to city housekeepers 
in enabling them to deal directly with producers and 
secure fresh goods for table use. The postoffice depart- 
ment fixes eleven pounds as the maximum for parcels. 
This is sufficient to carry the main ingredients of a Sun- 
day dinner for a city family, and there is nothing to pre- 
vent the forwarding of more than one package. It is not 

77 



78 PARCELS POST BRINGS DINNER 

only in the line of economy to thus deal with producers, 
but the quality of edibles consumed by a household will be 
improved. 

In nearly all discussions of the parcels post scheme the 
advantages to city housekeepers have been obscured by 
questions affecting country merchants and express com- 
panies. The vital thing with a majority of people is the 
efifect on the cost of living. It is entirely feasible for tens 
of thousands of families in large cities to establish direct 
buying connections with producers. On the other hand, 
the important thing to the farmer is not his ability to get 
goods from mail-order houses more conveniently, but the 
establishment of facilities by which he can obtain approxi- 
mately the retail rate for miscellaneous produce. The new 
system will enable him to go into mixed and intensive 
farming, and make daily cash sales to consumers at fair 
prices. 

There has been a constant outcry among farmers 
against the alleged extortions of middlemen. The unsat- 
isfactory handling of poultry and eggs, fruits, honey, 
squabs and other delicacies has driven many farmers out 
of these lines. They have missed the big profits because 
of bad selling facilities, and in a sense have been forced 
to confine their operations to one or two staples like grain 
or milk. With producers in a helpless condition, the large 
buying companies have controlled the trade, much to the 
disadvantage of farmers generally. 

The widespread movement just now to correct unjust 
conditions in the milk industry is one indication that 
American farmers are trying to get out of the rut and do 
things as business men would do them. 

The earning capacity of land is fully twice as much in 
mixed farming as under a dairy or grain system. There 
should be a balanced programme of poultry, hogs, cows, 
vegetables and fruit. These things belong together, and 
insure an even distribution of labor and a regular cash 



PARCELS POST BRINGS DINNER 79 

income. The consumptive demand is keen and seems to 
be growing more urgent year by year. Prices for a 
variety of commodities are on such a high level that 
liberal profits are assured as soon as selling arrangements 
are right. 

A factor that should have a marked influence in im- 
proving the farmers' chances of finding good markets for 
new laid eggs is the parcels post now in experimental 
operation. Doubtless it will not be long before enter- 
prising manufacturers will follow the lead of German 
manufacturers and place upon the market boxes suitable 
for carrying even so fragile things as eggs safely through 
the mail. When these are obtainable and when the parcel 
post service gets in good working order, farmers in 
even out-of-the-way places, but with first-class eggs to 
sell, can easily work up trade with special customers in 
nearby or even in distant towns and cities. The out- 
look for such developments has never been better. 

The celery growers of Kalamazoo, Mich., in one year 
grew 800,000 boxes of celery, each containing six dozen 
stalks. The value of this crop is $800,000 — one dollar a 
box. 



Soil Improvement and More Profitable 
Farming 

Grain crops in America are altogether too light and 
uncertain for profitable agriculture. This is largely due 
to lax methods of cultivation. In nearly all cases where 
soil impoverishment is the direct cause of unsuccessful 
farming, it can be shown that fertilization and the rota- 
tion of crops have been neglected. 

This is true on thousands of farms where the equip- 
ment is ample and the work of plowing and seeding is 
quite thorough. The proof is clear that many land- 
owners do not give attention to soil conservation. It is 
owing to this that much of the best land is deteriorating. 
In the newer states of the west, where large farms are the 
rule, and the soil is still rich, a cotnmon fault is improper 
methods of tillage. 

Despite the fertility of soil and the benefits of climate, 
the wheat yield per acre annually is less than 14 bushels, 
while England's is ;^2, Germany's 28, Holland's 34 and 
France's 20. Oats make an equally distressing showing 
in comparison ; and potatoes yield 85 bushels to the acre 
in this country, against 200 or more in Great Britain, 
Belgium and Germany. 

The average yield of corn per acre is 2S to 35 bushels, 
as shown by official statistics ; but in all contests, no mat- 
ter where held, a yield of 100 to 125 bushels is commonly 
obtained. In many instances of competitive corn-raising, 
tracts which had formerly produced 25 to 50 bushels per 
acre have in the hands of experts yielded upward of 100 
bushels. 

80 



SOIL IMPROVEMENT 81 

These are powerful arguments in favor of careful and 
intelligent farming. Landowners ought to perceive that 
the real profits in grain production only come when crops 
above the average are raised. Agriculture is a sorrowful 
spectacle when men with a suitable equipment of animals 
and machinery secure lo to 12 bushels of wheat and 20 
to 25 bushels of corn to the acre on our rich virgin soils, 
while in European countries the average is twice or three 
times as much. It must be remembered that when the 
average of a crop is 14 bushels a great many farmers fall 
below this figure and these constitute failures which 
are both pitiful and unnecessary. 

A number of essential principles must be adopted by 
farmers if they are to raise profitable crops. It is neces- 
sary to supply nitrogen for corn and wheat by growing 
legumes, but before leguminous crops, such as clover and 
alfalfa, can be grown, nearly every acre of land must be 
limed to correct the acidity. Fortunately there is an 
abundance of lime. Crushed lime rock can be purchased 
in carload quantities at a cost not to exceed $3 per ton 
laid down at any railroad station. 

The physical condition of the soil is injured by loss of 
organic matter. As the organic matter is destroyed the 
soils become less mellow, they plow up hard and lumpy, 
they crust severely after rains and cultivate with greater 
difficulty. The crusting of the soil, due to the lack of 
organic matter, is perhaps the most serious physical de- 
fect. When soils crust badly it becomes almost impossi- 
ble to successfully start such crops as alfalfa and grasses, 
and difficulty is sometimes experienced in securing a 
good stand of crops like wheat and corn. 

The liberation of plant food from the soil is directly 
dependent upon the supply of organic matter. Organic 
matter is also the food of a countless number of beneficial 
bacteria that inhabit every fertile soil. These bacteria 
are largely responsible for the liberation of plant food 



82 SOIL IMPROVEMENT 

from the soil particles. It therefore follows that as the 
supply of organic matter becomes less the number of 
beneficial bacteria decreases and less plant food is made 
available. Soils deficient in organic matter hold less 
moisture than those well supplied with humus. Humus, 
or organic matter, is spongy in nature and when incor- 
porated in the earth holds the soil grains apart, giving 
large openings into the soil for water to enter, and at the 
same time the spongy nature of the organic matter holds 
the water within the soil after it has entered. It is esti- 
mated that loo pounds of sand will hold approximately 
22 pounds of water, and lOO pounds of clay about 55 
pounds of water, but 100 pounds of humus will hold 143 
pounds of water. It is therefore evident that the more 
humus a soil contains the greater its water holding 
capacity. 

The organic matter or humus must be supplied either 
by plowing under leguminous crops and straw and corn- 
stalks or by using for feed and bedding all the crops 
grown on the farm and returning the manure to the land 
with the least loss possible. 

A rotation suggested is corn with one-half the field 
seeded to a legume such as sweet clover or alfalfa, fol- 
lowed the second season with barley or oats, with one- 
half the land in cowpeas or soy beans where the winter 
catch crop has been plowed under; third year, wheat or 
rye, in which clover or meadow grass has been sown; 
fourth year, clover, or clover and timothy; fifth year, 
wheat and clover, or timothy and clover; sixth year, 
clover or mixed grass crop. In succeeding chapters 
other combinations suitable to mixed farming are set 
forth. 

In grain farming most of the coarse products should be 
returned to the soil and occasionally a crop of clover 
clipped and left on the ground. To avoid clover sickness 
it may sometimes be necessary to sow red clover or alsike 



SOIL IMPROVEMENT 83 

for about every third rotation. Where the growth of 
corn is not too rank, cowpeas or soy beans make a satis- 
factory catch crop and these may well be used in suc- 
cessive rotations to prevent insect or fungous pests ob- 
taining a foothold through the too continuous use of 
clover. It should be remembered that the roots of clover 
contain one-half as much nitrogen as the tops and the 
roots of cowpeas only about one-tenth as much as the 
tops. In grain crops about two-thirds of the nitrogen 
is deposited in the grain and one-third in the stalk and 
roots. 

On all lands not subject to overflow phosphorus should 
be applied in considerably larger amounts than are re- 
quired for the need of the crop actually growing at that 
time. The fine ground natural rock phosphate can be 
used successfully and is the most economical form of 
phosphorus in all crop systems. The first application 
should be at least one-half ton per acre, and a ton would 
be better. Subsequently one-half ton applied every four 
to six years will suffice until the total phosphorus con- 
tained in the soil reaches 2,000 pounds per acre. This 
will require a total application of five to six tons of raw 
phosphate. 

For quick action and in emergencies steamed bone meal 
or acid phosphate may be used, but this is a much more 
expensive form than the ground natural rock. Good 
phosphate direct from the mine in carload lots costs about 
3 cents per pound, while steamed bone meal costs 12 
cents per pound, and acid phosphate 12 cents. 

The loss of phosphorus by leaching is very small un- 
less the land is subject to overflow or excessive drain- 
age, so that erosion losses occur. Phosphorus applied 
is not removed except in the form of mature crops. 
Phosphorus and limestone may be applied at any time 
during the rotation, but the limestone is best applied on 
plowed land so that it may be worked into the soil dur- 



84 SOIL IMPROVEMENT 

ing the process of cultivation. Phosphate is best applied 
either with manure or spread on the land broadcast just 
before a clover crop or clover stubble is plowed under. 

Farmers have been taught that the conditions existing 
in land that has been newly brought into cultivation from 
forest conditions are due to the fact that the soil abounds 
in humus, or organic decay, and that this humus, while 
containing plant food, has a larger office in the darkening 
of the soil and thus rendering it more retentive of 
w-irmth. It makes the soil mellow and prevents its crust- 
ing and baking hard, and above all makes it retentive of 
moisture so that crops are carried through a dry spell 
more successfully. 

In most of our old soils the long continued and care- 
less cultivation has robbed the soil of this valuable humus 
and any effort towards its improvement must depend on 
the bringing back of the conditions that existed in the 
freshly cleared soil. 

The legume crops then not only enable us, through 
bacterial life that exists with them, to gather the nitrogen 
that floats as a gas in the air and get it combined in the 
soil for the use of crops, but they enable us to restore 
to the soil the humus making materials that were 
formerly supplied by the forest growth. 

With cowpeas and crimson clover the whole face of the 
country has been changed in many localities where for- 
merly the soil was virtually worn out. There are splen- 
did farms and farmers growing rich on lands formerly 
thought to be worthless. 

The humus restored to the soil through these legumes 
has enabled farmers to use commercial fertilizers more 
profitably, because the moisture-retaining nature of the 
organic decay dissolves the fertilizer that would have 
been almost useless, and the growing of truck and small 
fruits for the leading markets has developed in a won- 
derful way. 



SOIL IMPROVEMENT 85 

The old sandy fields were almost destitute of humus, 
but the cowpea and the crimson clover have restored it, 
and hence there has been success attending the efforts of 
the farmers. 

Through growing legumes and feeding them to stock 
and returning the manure to the ground, we can profitably 
restore the new soil conditions. 

The cowpea will grow on the poorest of soils and over 
all the south is the most valuable of legumes, and in the 
north it can be profitably used to get the moisture-retain- 
ing humus in the soil and thus help in the restoration of 
the conditions that formerly existed when clover did 
flourish and where it now fails. 

After a crop of rye or oats is taken off in the early 
summer there is plenty of time to disk or plow the field 
and sow soy beans for a late summer crop. It can be 
used as pasturage or for hay. 

Plants in their growth make use of thirteen chemical 
elements, nine of which they secure directly from the soil. 
These are called the mineral plant foods ; they are phos- 
phorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, 
silicon, chlorin and sulphur. 



Soil Conservation Easy to Understand 

It is easy to grasp the main essentials of soil improve- 
ment, and it is important that considerable study be given 
to this subject. Many farms now on the market are run 
down and need a little scientific attention, and thousands 
of farmers are wishing that they knew how to build up 
the fertility of their land. 

One of the first essentials is a rotative scheme which 
will tax the land less severely than exclusive grain grow- 
ing does. A variety of crops not only increases the 
amount of cultivation, but adds numerous good elements 
as the stubble or plant growth is plowed under. 

Then, as all our lands have become deficient in phos- 
phates, wheat should always have a good application of 
acid phosphate. This will suffice if the preceding culti- 
vated crop has been planted on a clover sod on which 
farm manure has been spread. In fact, where there is a 
good, short rotation and plenty of legume crops are 
grown and fed, there will never be any need for the pur- 
chase of nitrogen in fertilizer. 

Rapidly growing crops require an ample supply of 
potassium in a form available to the plants, that is, soluble 
in water. Where a good rotation is practiced it has been 
found that the cultivation of a crop like corn or tobacco 
during the summer makes the best possible preparation 
for wheat, oats or barley. After the cultivated crop is 
off the best preparation is the rapid and frequent use of 
the disk harrow. 

One of the most valuable uses of lime and plaster is 
to release the insoluble potash in the soil and the accumu- 

86 



SOIL CONSERVATION EASY 87 

lation of organic decay with its humic acids will also 
have a good effect in rendering the potash available. 

The farmer on upland clay soils who practices a good 
rotation and maintains and increases the humus-making 
material in his soil, will seldom need to buy potash or 
nitrogen if he limes his soil once in four or five years, for 
the legumes will give him the nitrogen and the lime and 
organic decay will help release the potash. 

A good fertile soil is one that has a considerable 
proportion of organic, that is, vegetable and animal mat- 
ter in it. The most of this is in a dead and disintegrated 
condition, but some of it is in living forms that we call 
bacteria. These minute living organisms exist in the 
decaying particles and could not live in this soil without 
them, and when they are not there the soil is called dead. 
Heat and water, when excessive, will kill them, and this 
sometimes occurs. They need both heat and moisture, 
but only in moderate degrees. 

To maintain the needed bacteria there must be a con- 
tinuous addition of decaying as well as living vegetable 
matter for them to live and multiply upon. In other 
words, there must be plenty of humus in the soil, for 
humus is decaying organic matter. The nitrogen con- 
tent of the soil is largely dependent upon and often exists 
in proportion to the amount of humus there. And nitro- 
gen we know to be one of the most needful elements upon 
which all plants, whether large or small, feed. 

The legumes contain a larger proportion of nitrogen 
than ordinary vegetation. There are some soiling crops 
that may be considered as specially valuable. Buckwheat, 
rye and the cowhorn turnip are of this character. They 
will tame and benefit wild and barren soil and flourish 
over a wide range of climate. The rye must be turned 
under promptly in springtime before it drains the soil of 
moisture. 



Lime as an Adjunct in Farming 

Without doubt the judicious use of lime on the fields 
will greatly increase the aggregate yield of crops. That 
this liming must be done intelligently is evidenced by the 
fact that there are some plants that grow better on soils 
in which there is an abundance of acids than on soils in 
which the acid has been neutralized by the application 
of lime. 

These plants, however, are in the minority ; and, taking 
the plant creation as a whole, far more is gained by 
liming than not liming. When, however, the subject is 
sufficiently studied, it will be found possible to leave 
some areas unlimed on which to grow the plants that do 
best in an acid soil. 

For the growing of all leguminous plants an acidy soil 
is objectionable. This is because the minute forms of 
vegetable life that we call bacteria are destroyed by the 
acid in the soil, if that acid exists in considerable quanti- 
ties. These forms of vegetable life are necessary to the 
development on the roots of the legumes of the little knots 
or protuberances that we call nodules. In these nodules 
the bacteria live that take the gas nitrogen and reduce it 
to a tangible form that can be dissolved in water and thus 
become plant food. 

It is evident that if these vegetable forms of life can- 
not live in the soils on account of the acid no work of 
transforming the nitrogen can go on. In that case plants 
that bear pods will grow well only so long as they are 
supplied with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from 
the soil or are given their nitrogen in the form of 

88 



LIME AS AN ADJUNCT 89 

manures. But they do not render any service in securing 
nitrogen from the great storehouse of the air. But that 
is one of the main things for which we grow pod-bearing 
plants. 

The man who sows clover on a well-manured field can- 
not tell whether his clover crop is getting any nitrogen 
from the air or not and many a farmer is deceived in this 
way. He grows the clover for a year or two and then 
turns under the clover sod, believing that he has thus 
added to the nitrogen in his soil. But as the soil had in it 
much acid, the bacteria did not exist and the farmer had 
really been removing nitrogen from his field in the clover 
and hay crops, leaving the soil with less nitrogen in it 
than it had before he sowed his clover. 

If a man wishes to find whether his soil contains too 
much acid for leguminous (or pod-bearing) crops, let him 
sow his clover seed on soil that has not been manured at 
all or that has not been manured for many years. BettCjr 
still, let him buy some seed of sweet clover and sow 
that. If this plant grows well he does not need lime; 
for it will not grow where there is a large amount of 
acid in the soil. But many soils will be so acidy that 
these plants will not grow at all or will make a sickly 
growth. 

In that case lime should be applied. It is safe to apply 
It at the rate of a ton to the acre, and if in the form of 
carbonate of lime more can be used without any injury 
to the crops or the soil. Lime can be applied either in 
the form of quicklime or in the form of carbonate of lime. 



Phosphorus as a Soil Preserver 

When the University of Illinois thrashed its wheat on 
an experiment field in McLean county, agricultural his- 
tory was made. Upon the plots on which phosphorus 
was one of the fertilizing ingredients the crop was more 
than doubled, a record believed to be without precedent. 
In the plots in which the phosphorus treatment bore a 
part the average yield was more than fifty-eight and a 
half bushels an acre, an average gain of thirty-four and 
a half bushels an acre, which was mainly brought about 
by phosphorus fertilizer. 

In these experiments the standard application of phos- 
phorus in steamed bone meal has been at the rate of 
twenty-five pounds an acre for each year in the rotation. 
When raw rock phosphate is used about three times as 
much is applied, which adds three times as much phos- 
phorus to the soil but at about the same cost for the 
bone. After two or three rotations the amount of rock 
phosphate to be applied will be reduced to one-third of the 
present applications. 

"The key to permanent agriculture is phosphorus," 
said Dr. Hopkins. "To maintain or increase the amount 
of phosphorus in the soil makes possible the growth of 
clover and the consequent addition of nitrogen from the 
inexhaustible supply in the air, and with the addition of 
decaying organic matter in clover residues and in manure 
made in large part from clover, hay and pasture and 
from the larger crops of corn which the clover helps to 
produce, comes the possibility of liberating from the im- 
mense supply in the soil sufficient potassium, when sup- 

90 



PHOSPHORUS AS A SOIL PRESERVER 91 

plemented by that returned in manure and crop residues, 
for the production of crops for at least thousands of 
years." 

Then he sounds this warning note to American land 
owners : 

"If the supply of phosphorus in the soil is steadily 
decreased in the future in accordance with the present 
most common farm practice, then poverty is the only 
future for the people who till the common prairie lands 
of Illinois. And this does not refer to the far distant 
future only, for the turning point is already past on many 
Illinois lands." 

Average barn manure carries lo to 15 pounds nitrogen, 
5 to 9 pounds phosphoric acid and 10 to 15 pounds potash 
to the ton. This plant food is in a fairly soluble condi- 
tion, and is readily taken up by the plant. For market 
gardening purposes it may be balanced and supplemented 
by suitable fertilizers in case the yield is not up to ex- 
pectations. In soggy spots slacked lime should be used. 
Where the crops are light on land that has had barnyard 
manure and good cultivation it is well to try phosphorus. 

Nitrogen is free as air, and potassium is abundant in 
nearly all of the soils. Both nitrogen and potassium re- 
main in the straw and the stalks, and in the farm manure 
to a considerable extent. 

Phosphorus, on the contrary, is present in nearly all 
soils in limited amounts and it is being continually re- 
moved from the land. 

While it is true that some forms of soil bacteria prefer 
to live in the absence of free oxygen, the large mass of 
soil organisms can only carry out their life processes in 
the presence of a plentiful supply of oxygen. Every 
phase of soil management therefore which affects in any 
degree the amount of air supplied to the soil is a regulator 
of the bacterial activities in the soil. Among these im- 
portant phases of soil management are tillage, includ- 



92 PHOSPHORUS AS A SOIL PRESERVER 

ing plowing and cultivation, and drainage. It is obvious 
that plowing to a depth of four inches will not supply 
the soil with the amount of air which plowing to twice 
the depth will. It is likewise clear that when a soil is 
water-logged, or partially so, or, in other words, when 
its pores are filled wholly or partly by water instead of 
air, we cannot expect that a sufficient supply of oxygen 
will be maintained there for crop production, and these 
facts hold true for bacterial development in soils. Our 
study therefore of the oxygen needs of soil bacteria 
serves to emphasize more clearly the necessity for 
rational methods of tillage and drainage. 

No farm should be without its experiment plot, for it 
has been by experimental work only that anything in agri- 
culture has become known. Knowing the history of a 
soil, the plot or field experiment, supplemented, in some 
instances, by chemical and physical analyses, tells the 
farmer the best plan to follow with the particular soil 
to restore it to full power. The ratio of straw to grain 
tells its story to the critical eye. If for several years the 
straw production is abnormally high and the grain pro- 
duction is low, these facts point to phosphorus being 
needed. If the leaves of the grain are long, loose, hang- 
ing and fluttering and the stems too long for their thick- 
ness, the soil probably requires calcium. A bright green 
to yellowish colored foliage with the tips of the leaves 
brown or reddish in color, indicates want of nitrogen. 

Broad-leaf plants, like burdock and nettles, indicate 
moisture, while narrow-leaf plants indicate dryness. 
Nitrogen is abundant where chickweed and red pimperel 
grow, while lack of nitrogen is indicated by jagged chick- 
weed, field chickweed and vernal whitlow-grass. 

Soil that is rich in nitrate of soda is indicated by the 
presence of goose foot, oraches and burning nettle. Fox- 
gloves, spurry and corn marigolds indicate calcium. 



Making the Most of Manure 

Farmers who live near enough to cities or villages to 
warrant them in buying stable manure are often surprised 
when they attempt this to find that the available supply 
has been engaged by gardeners, nurserymen and seed- 
men, and at higher prices than they can pay. Each of 
these works land that is much richer than that usually 
devoted to farm crops. They can afford to buy to make 
rich soil still more rich, while the farmer whose land is 
much poorer cannot afford to buy to bring it into condi- 
tion for cultivation. This only shows that soil fertility 
tends to increase, while the soil that is already poor, if 
cultivated, almost inevitably grows still poorer. The use 
of commercial fertilizers, with which a small amount 
fertilizes a large surface, to some extent offsets this dis- 
advantage of the poor farmer. It costs a great deal less 
to drill with a grain crop three to four dollars' worth of 
mineral fertilizer than to cover the surface with stable 
manure. Besides, the commercial fertilizer can always be 
furnished in quantities limited only by the ability of the 
farmer to buy. The commercial fertilizer is easily ap- 
plied, and for the single crop it produces results quite as 
good as would the stable manure. Its defect is that it 
does not add to soil fertility as the manure must do, and it 
is on increase of productive power in the soil more than 
on the gain from single crops that profit in farming must 
depend. 

The man whose land is already rich is the one who can 
best afford to buy commercial manures. If he buys them 
he can only save himself from loss by putting a part of 

93 



94 MAKING THE MOST OF MANURE 

their plant food into a permanent addition to the fertility 
of the farm. So far as possible the clover and grass 
together with coarse grain and corn-fodder should be 
fed on the farm. To do this requires capital, for it im- 
plies choice stock which will pay for its feed and leave 
the manure pile as profit. It also generally requires that 
the farmer on rich land shall grow something that only 
rich soil can be made to grow, or whose production is 
unusually difficult. Markets are always glutted with 
crops that can be grown on poor land and with the least 
labor. It is only by growing something that pays better 
than the staple easily-grown crops that money can be 
made in farming under present conditions. 

Valuable lessons are obtained from European methods. 
The city of Berlin covers an area of 20,000 acres, and the 
sewage farms owned and conducted by the municipality 
cover an area twice the size. The sewage disposal prob- 
lem has nowhere reached the development that is found in 
Berlin. The city will ultimately sell this land at great 
profit and then turn to some biological method of meet- 
ing the problem or secure more land and go on with the 
work of land reclamation in connection with the disposal 
of the city's accumulations. The prevailing mode of dis- 
posing of sewage by pouring it into streams is exceed- 
ingly wasteful. It represents so much nitrogen which 
has been extracted from the soil, and which ought, by 
right, to be returned to the soil. If it could be advan- 
tageously used, it would represent a value of about 
$200,000,000 a year to England alone. This, however, 
is distributed over a quantity of three billion tons. Sew- 
age is so complex in its nature that the recovery of its 
chemical constituents would be almost a hopeless task. 
That, however, is no reason why some method should 
not be devised of utilizing it as a fertilizer. Farmers 
have endeavored to use the sludge as a fertilizer ; but that 
is not always practicable, partly because of the chemical 



MAKING THE MOST OF MANURE 95 

character of the sludge and partly because of the farm- 
er's distance from the dumping ground. 

We are slowly learning to use the millions of tons of 
corn fodder which used to rot in the furrow, but we 
have scarcely begun to comprehend what we are wasting 
by the negligent care of our manure crop or of the inex- 
haustible store of nitrogen which envelops the earth and 
which could be put into the soil by sowing leguminous 
crops like clover, alfalfa and cowpeas more liberally. We 
are wasting our land by not farming to its last pound of 
productivity. We are wasting even our weeds, by not 
carrying a band of sheep on every one hundred acres. 
We are wasting our time by sowing year after year un- 
selected seed on partially tilled soil, by milking inferior 
cows which don't pay their board; we are guilty — all 
guilty more or less — but, fortunately, we know it, we 
are ashamed of it, but not ashamed to admit it. And we 
are going to do better. 

If any of our young men from the farms are contem- 
plating a professional career, we suggest that before they 
join the ranks of lawyers or physicians, they consider 
whether the science of agriculture has not greater attrac- 
tions. In a few years we prophesy that every progressive 
farming community will have in its service an expe- 
rienced soil doctor, whose employment will not only be 
lucrative to himself, but will pay immense dividends to 
his employers. 



Growing Legumes for Soil Betterment 

Along the Atlantic coast as far north as New Jersey and 
south at least to Georgia, crimson clover, frequently called 
German clover, thrives as a winter annual. Like all the 
legumes it stores up much nitrogen and greatly enriches 
the soil in this element. This crop deserves a much wider 
field of usefulness than has yet been accorded it. In the 
northern part of its territory it should be sown in July. 
In the South, September is supposed to be the best time to 
sow it. It is best adapted to sowing in corn or cotton. In 
sections where it has not previously been grown it fre- 
quently fails, apparently from lack of its proper bacteria. 
It is therefore well to inoculate the seed when it is sown 
the first time. 

This crop furnishes valuable winter pasture, makes 
good hay if cut when just coming into full flower, and is 
valuable as a green feed in spring. It helps to fill the gap 
in the soiling system between green wheat and early corn. 
Perhaps its greatest usefulness is in a green manure. It 
may be plowed under any time in the spring and be fol- 
lowed by corn or potatoes. 

In this connection, the practice of a farmer near 
Flagersto-wn, Md., is of interest. Ten years ago he be- 
gan sowing crimson clover in corn at the last plowing, 
covering the seed with the cultivator, and using lO 
pounds of seed to the acre. In the spring the clover was 
plowed under and another crop of corn planted. Ten 
consecutive crops of corn have been taken from this field, 
a crop of crimson clover being plowed under each spring. 
The yield of corn has increased during that time from 

96 



GROWING LEGUMES FOR SOIL BETTERMENT 97 

about 35 bushels, in the beginning, to about 50 bushels 
at the present time. Evidently the practice was a good 
one in this case. 

Those who are not familiar with crimson clover should 
try it on a small scale at first, as there have been many 
failures with it. The following five-year rotation is a 
good one on stock farms in middle latitudes, and shows 
one way of securing the benefits of crimson clover as a 
green manure: Corn with crimson clover sown at last 
cultivation, corn, oats, wheat, clover (common red). 

The vetches can be made to occupy a somewhat similar 
place as a green manure, at least in the South. 

It seldom pays to turn under a crop of cowpeas in the 
green state. It is better practice to make hay of them, 
feed the hay, and put the manure back on the land. As 
is the case with all legumes, the roots of the cowpea crop 
add a great deal of nitrogen to the soil, and have a marked 
effect on fertility. If a heavy green crop of cowpeas is 
plowed under in the autumn it is best not to plant the 
land until the following spring. A very good plan for 
bringing up the fertility of a worn-out field is to sow 
rye in the fall, plow this under in the spring, harrow 
thoroughly, let the land lie a month, and then sow cow- 
peas. Cut the peas for hay and sow rye again. A few 
seasons of such treatment will restore fertility to the 
soil. Fortunately, both of these crops will grow on very 
poor land. 

Almost any crop may be used as a green manure, as 
occasion demands. Those previously mentioned are 
more generally used for this purpose than others. In 
plowing up clover sod, many farmers, particularly on 
fields most in need of manure, wait until the clover is 
nearly ready to cut for hay before plowing, in order 
to get the additional nitrogen and humus thus produced. 
Buckwheat is frequently grown as a green manure. This 
crop is planted in early summer or late spring and turned 



98 GROWING LEGUMES FOR SOIL BETTERMENT 

under in the autumn. Even corn and sorghum have been 
used for this purpose. They produce large amounts of 
humus when thickly planted. Sufficient time should be 
given after plowing in such rank growth to allow the soil 
to settle and the resulting acids to wash out of the soil 
before planting another crop. In southern California, 
fenugreek and Canadian field peas are used extensively 
as winter cover crops in orchards. They are then plowed 
under in spring as green manure. 

The quickest way to build up a worn-out soil when 
barnyard manure is not plentiful is to give it a course 
of treatment like that just described; then grow only 
forage crops, buy grain to feed with them, and return 
all the manure thus produced to the land. Dairy farm- 
ing permits such a system to be practiced. No other type 
of farming builds up land so rapidly. 

Another type that gives fairly quick results is to grow 
a succession of pasture crops for hogs, keep the hogs on 
these pastures and feed them a fourth to a half ration of 
grain. 

There are three general methods of supplying humus 
to the soil. The first and best is the addition of stable 
manure. When properly managed it adds large quantities 
of both plant food and humus. But manure is not always 
available. When such is the case, the best thing to do 
is to make it available. Raise more forage, keep more 
stock, and make more manure. But this takes time and 
capital, so that other means are sometimes necessary. 
When stable manure is not to be had, we may plant crops 
for the purpose of turning them under, thus adding 
large quantities of humus at comparatively little cost. 
Plowing under green crops is called green manuring. 
Under certain conditions this is an excellent practice. 

A third method of adding humus is to grow crops like 
clover and timothy. These crops are usually left down 
for two years or more. During this time their roots 



GROWING LEGUMES FOR SOIL BETTERMENT 99 

thoroughly penetrate the soil. Old roots decay and new 
ones grow. When the sod is plowed up, more or less 
vegetable matter is turned under. This, with the mass 
of roots in the soil, adds no small amount to the supply of 
humus. Another advantage from the cultivation of 
clovers and alfalfa is found in the fact that they are deep- 
rooted plants, and when their roots decay they leave 
channels deep into the earth, thus aiding in the absorption 
of rains and letting in air to sweeten the soil 

Properly handled, stable manure is by all means the 
best remedy for poverty of the soil. Very few farmers 
handle manure so as to get even as much as half the 
possible value from it. There is probably no greater 
waste in the world than in connection with the handling 
of manure by the American farmer. Five-eighths of the 
plant food in manure is found in the liquid part of it. 
This is usually all lost. Not only is this the case, but the 
solids are piled beside the barn, frequently under the 
eaves, where rains wash away much of their value. Fer- 
mentation in these manure piles also sets free much of 
the nitrogen to escape into the air. 

In order to produce a ton of dry hay on an acre of 
land it is necessary that the growing grass pump up from 
that acre approximately 500 tons of water. In order to 
supply this enormous quantity of water, the soil must not 
only be in condition to absorb and hold water well, but 
it must be porous enough to permit water to flow freely 
from soil grain to soil grain. The presence of large 
quantities of decaying organic matter (humus) adds 
enormously to the water-holding capacity of the soil. One 
ton of humus will absorb 2 tons of water and give it up 
readily to growing crops. Not only that, but the shrink- 
ing of the particles of decaying organic matter and the 
consequent loosening of soil grains keep the soil open and 
porous. 

Furthermore, humus of good quality is exceedingly 



100 GROWING LEGUMES FOR SOIL BETTERMENT 

rich in both nitrogen and mineral plant food. The main- 
tenance of fertility may almost be said to consist in keep- 
ing the soil well supplied with humus. 

The cultivation of leguminous crops is one of the most 
important and economical means of maintaining a supply 
of nitrogenous plant food in the soil. Nitrates may, of 
course, be supplied in commercial fertilizers ; but fer- 
tilizers containing nitrogen are very expensive, and it 
usually pays better to supply nitrogen by growing 
legumes or by the application of stable manure, which is 
rich in nitrogen when properly handled. In good farm 
practice both stable manure and leguminous crops are 
used as sources of nitrogen. 

Improper methods of tillage add very greatly to the 
evil effects that result from lack of humus. In many 
parts of the country the land is plowed only 3 or 4 inches 
deep. Below the plowed stratum the soil becomes sour, 
densely packed, and unfit for plant roots. When such 
soils are plowed deep and this sour packed subsoil is 
mixed with the upper portion, the growth of many crops 
is greatly retarded. This has led many farmers to be- 
lieve that deep plowing is ruinous. Some farmers have 
tried to remedy the difficulty by subsoiling. The subsoil 
plow breaks up the packed layer but does not throw it 
out on top. But while subsoiling does break up the hard 
layer into chunks it does not pulverize it or put humus 
into it. In most cases work done in subsoiling is prac- 
tically wasted, and it is doubtful if it ever pays. A much 
better method is to plow a little deeper each year until a 
depth of 8 or 10 inches is reached. This gives a deep 
layer of good soil, particularly if the supply of humus is 
kept up. 

When new soil, or that which has lain undisturbed for 
several years, is broken up, it is always best to plow deep 
from the beginning, for the deeper layers will be about 
as fertile as any, except the top inch or two. It is wise, 



GROWING LEGUMES FOR SOIL BETTERMENT 101 

too, never to plow the same depth twice in succession. 
In general, fall plowing should be from 7 to 9 or 10 
inches and spring plowing from 5 to 7 inches deep. There 
are special cases in which these rules do not apply, but 
their discussion would take us too far from the purpose 
of this chapter. 

We plow the soil in order to loosen up its texture and 
get air into it ; also to turn under stubble, manure, etc., to 
make humus. Killing weeds is another object ac- 
complished by plowing. After a soil has been thoroughly 
pulverized to great depths, so that there is no danger of 
turning up packed clay, the deeper the plowing the better 
the crops. But the cost also increases with depth, so that 
ordinarily it does not pay to plow more than about 10 
inches deep. 

Some crops prefer rather a loose seed bed. Millet is 
such a crop. Farmers sometimes plow a second time in 
order to sow millet on freshly plowed land. Other crops, 
such as wheat and alfalfa, prefer a fairly compact seed 
bed ; hence, frequent harrowing and rolling after plowing 
is good practice before seeding to these crops. Never- 
theless, it pays to plow the land for them, even if we have 
to compact it again before seeding. The plowing aerates 
the soil and helps to set plant food free. 



Large Profits in Potatoes 

All progressive farmers who can bring their plans into 
the right shape are going ahead with potatoes. Prices 
continue on a high level and the market demand is so 
keen that foreign producers are making large shipments 
to this country. If American farmers are wise they will 
control this market and reap the big profits which are to 
be gained from potato culture. 

The fact should be kept in mind that the proper kind 
of cultivation will give a yield of about 200 bushels per 
acre, whereas the average in this country is under 100 
bushels. The yield in parts of Maine as well as in the 
northwest often runs upwards of 200 bushels, while in 
Germany it is close to 200. England and Ireland fall a 
little behind Germany. 

For nearly two years now the price per bushel to 
American farmers has been $1 to $1.50, where they have 
sold to private customers, and 75 cents to $1.25 when 
shipping to commission men. It is well to compare this 
price and yield to wheat figures. In raising the grain 
farmers are in great luck if they secure twenty bushels 
per acre and receive $1 a bushel. 

Potatoes do not require the richest of soils. They will 
thrive in a sandy loam. Soggy land is bad for the crop 
and if any such has to be used it ought to be drained. 
Regular moisture in light quantities on any ordinary 
farm will insure a good crop of potatoes. 

An irrigated farm has advantages over any other, but 
where the rainfall is insufificient a dust mulch should be 

102 



LARGE PROFITS IN POTATOES 103 

kept around the growing crop for the purpose of con- 
serving such moisture as there is. It is unwise to let 
potato ground harden and bake in the sun. By giving 
reasonable attention to the product along the lines indi- 
cated success will be attained in almost any section of the 
United States. 

Potatoes do well in rotation with clover, millet, corn, 
beets, rutabagas, cabbage, etc. It is feasible to dig a crop 
of early potatoes in June or July and then immediately 
sow millet, rye or fodder corn on the same ground. It 
is also a good plan to plant late potatoes on land from 
which clover, cowpeas, rye or any other early crop has 
been taken. 

There are sixteen states in which the cultivation of 
sugar beets is already well established in this country. 
Practically all of these states are large producers of 
potatoes. More significant still is the fact, recently 
brought out by an exhaustive inquiry, that the use of 
sugar beets in rotation with potatoes, corn, wheat and 
other crops increases the yield of every one of these 
crops from 25 to 50 per cent. In the case of potatoes the 
increase was 46.2 per cent. 

Early Rose, Triumph, Early Michigan and Early Ohio 
remain standard early varieties, while some of the best 
late ones are Burbank, Peerless, Peachblow and Green 
Mountain. There are many variations in these types, but 
for all practical purposes the potatoes can be recom- 
mended as named above. 

It is necessary to be on guard against disease and insect 
pests. A healthy growth of potatoes can hardly be ex- 
pected on soggy land or where spraying is neglected. 
Good seed is of the highest importance, and with this 
point settled thorough cultivation will insure a crop five 
years out of six. 

The potato scab is a disease that remains in the soil 
from one year to the next as a fungus and if potatoes 



104 LARGE PROFITS IN POTATOES 

are grown in consecutive years on the same soil the 
disease must necessarily increase. 

The potato bug or beetle is destroyed with paris green 
at the rate of one pound to the acre in twenty-five gal- 
lons of water. Arsenate of lead applied at the rate of 
six pounds to the acre in fifty gallons of water will prove 
equally efficacious. Scab and blight are controlled by the 
bordeaux mixture, which is best applied a week or two 
after the bugs have been disposed of. 

Potatoes are so hardy that they are raised to advan- 
tage in the most northerly states, and even in Siberia and 
other cold countries. Seed produced in the north will 
show good results in southern states, but this is a rule 
that will not work both ways. Tubers originating in a 
semi-tropical climate have to be acclimated in the north 
before returning satisfactory crops. 

On any farm in the country some parts are much better 
adapted to potatoes than others. Sandy soil is not a 
moisture-retaining soil, and in wet weather there is little 
danger of tubers rotting in the soil. In dry seasons 
mulching is highly beneficial, as it tends to hold and con- 
serve the little moisture available. Seeds grown under 
mulch and those grown with the best cultivation have 
been compared and the former found to produce 50 per 
cent better yields. If clover is raised after potatoes 
grown with a mulch a surprisingly good stand is obtained. 

The time to mulch is just as soon as the first crop of 
weeds has been destroyed by cultivation. A thick layer 
of leaves or straw is required. This will save the soil 
from surface washing and will keep down the weeds. It 
conserves moisture and adds humus. 

Plow in plenty of manure in the fall. When the 
weather becomes favorable in the spring use a disk un- 
less the ground happens to be dry, in which case harrow- 
ing is better, as it will tend to conserve the moisture. 
If the land is not perfectly level the rows should con- 



LARGE PROFITS IN POTATOES 105 

form to the slope, so that in case of heavy rains the water 
will run off without washing out the crop. If mulching 
is thought to be unnecessary the tract must be cultivated 
two or three times. 

The studious farmer tills the soil in an intelligent man- 
ner, knowing the reason for and the eft'ect of every opera- 
tion. He aims to get water into the soil and hold it there 
for future use. Certainty of crops depends almost abso- 
lutely on proper handling of the soil. Without it the 
soil moisture is not stored in proper quantities and is 
allowed to escape, and drought gets the crop that other- 
wise could be saved and made profitable. 

A study of the potato question will be a good thing 
for American farmers, especially those who are just en- 
gaging in agriculture. The whole subject of supply and 
demand, of production and selling, is opened by the 
existing potato problem. 

Here are a couple of good axioms which apply to the 
situation: Never trust to one crop for success, even 
when prices are high; do not devote all your land and 
effort to a single interest, no matter what the rate of 
profit was in a previous season. One reason is that you 
may fail to produce a satisfactory crop, and another is 
that thousands rush to raise a product for which there 
seems to be an unusual demand. This breaks the market. 
It would be easy for American farmers to raise so many 
potatoes that they could not get fifty cents a bushel for 
them. However, when the market gets too low to afford 
a profit, this product is excellent food, when boiled, for 
poultry and hogs. 



Growing Sweet Potatoes in the North 

While the sweet potato is generally regarded as a south- 
ern crop, it is grown with great success in many places 
in the north. The Island of Muscatine in the Mississippi 
River is largely given up to sweet potatoes and melons. 
The former do well in any light, sandy soil, where the 
season is not too short. 

Miss Gertrude Coburn, teacher of domestic science in 
the University of Iowa, has collected some valuable data 
regarding the table merit of the different kinds of sweet 
potatoes grown in the north. Mr. Theodore Williams, 
of Benson, Neb., and F. D. Wells, a Michigan grower, 
have been successful in the cultivation of the potato ; and 
the results of the work of these investigators are briefly 
summarized here. 

In Miss Coburn's investigations the soil on which the 
crop was grown was not rich, having previously grown 
nursery stock. It was not manured, but thoroughly pre- 
pared. Mr. Wells says that the soil best suited to sweet 
potatoes is a warm, moderately rich sand. If it is too rich 
there will be excessive growth of top at the expense of 
the root. Before planting, the surface of the ground 
should be ridged, and the plants set in the usual way 
about the first week in June. 

The most common way to grow the plants is in a hot- 
bed. After the first heated period is over, the tubers are 
placed quite closely together, but not touching, and 
covered with manure; they are then covered with three 
inches of soil, the bed covered with glass and watered as 
often as necessary. 

106 



GROWING SWEET POTATOES 107 

The buds or shoots which develop should be trans- 
planted to the field only when the ground is quite warm. 
Although plants are generally set in ridges, some grow- 
ers prefer to set on a level. The ridge system is probably 
most desirable in the north. The center of the ridges 
should be about 33^ feet apart, and the plants set 18 
inches in the row. Good cultivation is necessary. This 
should be frequent and shallow to save moisture, and it 
will also add to the yield. 

Southern growers have changed their method some- 
what, and now do not believe it is necessary to move the 
vines to prevent rooting, except under unusual circum- 
stances. Northern experiments show that there is not 
so much difference between rows in which the vines were 
undisturbed and those in which the vines were moved 
twice. 

Potash is one of the most important fertilizers for 
sweet potatoes, although in New Jersey, horse manure at 
the rate of 10 to 20 tons per acre is used. It should be 
well rotted. Attention to the vines, says Mr. Wells, 
does not stop with the end of cultivation. They should 
be lifted occasionally to prevent their taking root, and this 
work can be quickly done by the use of a pitchfork. Once 
a week is often enough. 

In the north the black-rot affects sweet potatoes, and 
this is soon seen on the sprouts. Whenever a plant 
shows a leaf that is black, it should be dug up and 
destroyed. Potatoes from affected plants will rot quickly 
after being dug. As the germs of the disease remain in 
the soil over winter, the ground should not be used again 
for this crop. 



Money Making From Pork 

Farmers who do not raise a lot of nice pork every year 
are not living up to their opportunities in money making. 
At the average price of hogs in the last five years this 
product pays well. 

The present is a good time either for making a start or 
enlarging operations. Even a very small farm should 
have a few pigs, as they work nicely in any scheme of 
diversification. 

The sow's rations should be reduced about one-half 
shortly before farrowing, and it should consist of sloppy 
feed that will tend to loosen the bowels. An abundant 
supply of water should be before her. She ought to be 
separated from other animals a week before farrowing. 
In extremely cold weather the young pigs are likely to 
become chilled and may die if they do not receive extra 
attention. A little care at this time will save the lives 
of many pigs and pay excellent returns for the slight 
effort involved. A few bricks should be heated, wrapped 
in a sack and placed in a basket. Any pigs which appear 
chilled or are too weak to nurse should be placed in the 
basket. An hour or so of this treatment should serve 
to revive the young porker and after he gets to nurse 
his chances of reaching maturity are increased fourfold. 

If sucking pigs are seen to be scouring, give the sow 
fifteen to twenty drops of laudanum in her feed for a few 
days. If her feed is reduced this usually checks the 
scours. If there is no laudanum at hand use powdered 
charcoal. 

As soon as the pigs are old enough to eat I give them a 

lOS 



MONEY MAKING FROM PORK 109 

separate trough where they can eat without being dis- 
turbed by the mother. They are given a mixed feed of 
middHngs, corn meal or other ground feed softened with 
water. They thrive all summer on forage crops and 
need little grain until a month before marketing time. 

Mineral matter such as phosphorus, calcium, sulphur 
and iron is very necessary to the best development of a 
pig. It is needed in the body to carry gaseous products, 
such as oxygen, from the lungs to the tissues of the 
body ; to maintain acidity in the blood and tissues ; to aid 
in the movement of liquids through the body; to aid in 
the digestion of proteids and fats ; and in addition to sev- 
eral minor functions to aid in the formation of muscular 
and bony tissues. A pig fed on ground corn and water, 
and provided with plenty of mineral matter will gain 
twice as much in weight as one fed on ground corn and 
water alone. 

Rape, artichokes, red clover and alfalfa make good 
forage for hogs. Carrots are excellent food also, either in 
summer or winter. It is not best to let hogs have the 
entire run of a large pasture. Confine them within 
movable fences, giving them access to a part of the field 
at a time. Such fences are not expensive. They save 
much waste of grass, secure a large growth of feed from 
the land and cause the hogs to make rapid gains. 

Vermin are a pest and cause heavy losses. Nothing 
holds back growing pigs more than lice. It is necessary 
to fight them as long as one remains on the premises. 
Coal tar dips are a great help in keeping hogs healthy, 
and where a sprayer is used it is a good plan to spray the 
litter that the hogs sleep in, and kill the lice there also. 
Lime is a help if sprinkled over the litter. Black oil 
poured over the pigs will kill lice effectively. A mixture 
of lard and kerosene when rubbed in, answers the pur- 
pose. Do not use kerosene alone, as it blisters. Good 



110 MONEY MAKING FROM PORK 

insect powders can be bought, but they are hardly neces- 
sary if the other remedies are used. 

Hogs require attention regardless of conditions, age 
or sex, but the brood sows require particular attention, 
and to the feeder's skill in feeding and managing his 
brood sows, provided they have been properly selected, 
will be due in large measure his success. 

Pasture and forage crops should be provided for the 
pregnant sows, because of the cheapness of this method 
of feeding and the desirability of keeping the sows in 
good form by exercise, fresh air and sunshine. Along 
with the pasture and forage crops some grain should be 
fed especially as pregnancy advances, for best results, 
since the pasture and forage crops provide only about a 
maintenance ration. The forage crops that are especially 
suited to pregnant brood sows are the clovers, alfalfa, 
peas, beans, vetches, rape, etc. The ordinary pasture 
grasses also provide a suitable pasture for brood sows. 

Keep the sow in fair condition but not excessively fat. 
She should receive a nutritious ration at all times, but 
care should be taken not to feed a too concentrated 
ration close to farrowing time, as the sow is likely to 
become constipated. This is a disorder that should be 
carefully avoided during pregnancy and especially at the 
time of farrowing. To overcome this disorder the greater 
part of the grain ration should be given in the form of 
a slop all during pregnancy, and toward the close of the 
gestation period some laxative feed such as bran, oil meal, 
roots, or a small amount of flaxseed meal should be intro- 
duced into the ration. It should be remembered that the 
digestive tract of the hog is small and that a very bulky 
ration cannot be used to best advantage. 

It is well to remember that the main demands upon 
the brood sow are those for building up new tissue, and 
that the kind of feed is important. To build up new 
tissue the sow must have protein in her ration. This 



MONEY MAKING FROM PORK HI 

may be supplied by feeding any one of a number of 
nitrogenous feeds. The young sow requires more of this 
kind of feed in her ration than the old one because she 
is still growing when her first litter is born. A variety in 
the feeds is necessary to good results with swine. With 
brood sows it is particularly true that several feeds com- 
bined give better results than any single one. 

For a few days previous to farrowing the feed should 
be limited in quantity and of a sloppy nature, and, as has 
been previously stated, the tendency to become consti- 
pated at this time must be overcome. A box of charcoal, 
salt and ashes should be kept where the sow can get at it 
at all times, summer or winter. These materials tend to 
satisfy the hog's craving for mineral matter and act as 
a vermifuge and preventive of disease. If brood sows 
are given free access to the above mixture and are fed 
a varied ration which contains a sufficient amount of 
protein, the breeder will not be likely to be troubled with 
sows eating their pigs at farrowing time. 

The quantity of feed for several days after farrow- 
ing should be small. The sow should not be offered any 
feed of any kind until she gets up of her own accord 
after farrowing and for the first day or two a thin slop 
will be sufficient to quench her thirst and provide all the 
nutrition required. Within a week or ten days after 
farrowing the sow should be getting a good ration of 
nutritious milk producing food. If skim milk can be had 
at this time and fed with a ration of equal parts corn 
meal and shorts, good results should be obtained. About 
three weeks after farrowing the sow should be getting 
a full ration and during the whole remaining period 
during which the sow is giving suck to her pigs she 
should be fed heavily, for the gain thus produced in the 
suckling pigs indirectly is made at a low cost for the 
feed consumed. Generally a sow with a large litter will 
lose in weight and condition even when given the best 



112 MONEY MAKING FROM PORK 

of care and feed. These essentials should receive the 
greatest of attention at all times. 

Farmers need to learn the merits of rape, carrots, 
Canada peas and alfalfa or clover. Hogs can be brought 
along nicely for the first six months without much 
corn if they can have a nice patch of forage such as 
alfalfa or rape. Skimmed milk is a wholesome and cheap 
addition. They can be finished on peas or corn, as cir- 
cumstances dictate, and will show a large profit at 8 to 
lo months. Animals fed in this way produce extra fine 
pork and it is possible to have private customers who 
will take the dressed carcasses, wholly or in part, at 
fancy prices. 

While hogs grow into money fast, the question of 
economical feeding must not be overlooked. If the feeder 
does what he should for his hogs on grass he will feed 
some corn or other grain along each day to furnish the 
pig more nutrients than he can secure in his grass diet 
and also to help concentrate his ration. 

If this is kept up to the time in the pig's life when 
he is 6, 7 or 8 months of age he is then a large pig, 
growthy and strong, but not in any condition to market. 
He has built up his frame and muscle work large enough 
so that by feeding six weeks or two months longer he 
can be finished ofif on corn into the prime pork the market 
pays the long price for. 

This last period is called the finishing or fattening 
period, but this does not mean that the pig, which has 
been allowed to roam over a grass pasture (or, better 
still, a clover pasture) and been fed perhaps a pound or 
two pounds of corn or other grain in the evening just to 
keep him growing fine, should be kept in an 8xio foot pen 
and stufifed on corn. He will not do best under these 
conditions. He wants some good clean soil to eat every 
day as he had all the rest of his life. He wants a fifty- 
yard straightaway where he can scamper and shake up 



MONEY MAKING FROM PORK 113 

his intestines, which are as full as a city boy at grand- 
mother's on Thanksgiving day. 

Now corn alone and a place to scamper in will not be 
all that is necessary for finishing these hogs. They are 
still to grow some, their growth requires protein mate- 
rial, and this protein material must be in excess of that 
found in the corn. Nothing could be better than the 
clover field or the alfalfa field, but when these are frosted 
or covered with snow, the Canadian field peas can be used 
that should have been thrashed out some weeks before. 
These should be ground for best results and fed in slop. 

If this slop could be made of the fresh separated milk, 
so much the better. The ration of corn, should you have 
it ground, and the field peas, which ought to be ground, 
is very well mixed and makes a good ration when about 
five parts of corn are fed with one part of pea meal, 
mixed in a fairly thick slop. Should the feeder not have 
the pea meal and has only the skim milk, it is well to 
purchase shorts and make a good slop of the shorts and 
milk and feed all the pigs will clean up without leaving 
the trough. 

Rape is one of the most satisfactory crops for early 
hog pasture when clover is not available. It closely 
resembles cabbage in appearance and manner of growth, 
except that it does not produce a head. It has large, 
coarse, succulent leaves, and ordinarily grows from 20 
to 30 inches tall. It is a cool weather plant and can be 
sown early in the spring — as soon as there is no further 
danger of severe frost. It will endure a pretty severe 
frost in the fall without injury and may be used for 
pasture late in the fall, provided the hogs are kept off 
when it is frozen. 



Making a Dairy Farm Pay 

There is much to be said in favor of dairy farming, no 
matter what the size of the place may be. It is an excel- 
lent system for providing a monthly cash income, and 
may be managed so as to yield a high rate of profit, par- 
ticularly if there are good transportation facilities or the 
farm is located near a large town. Soil fertility is best 
maintained on a place that has considerable live stock. 

A dairy is a good basis for operations in a case where 
a city family takes land, for it affords an immediate 
income with which to meet the expense of hired help and 
the cost of getting started. On any place beyond the 
dimensions of a garden or orchard it is best to start with 
an experienced man. Possibly after one season the family 
may manage the work. 

Fifteen to twenty cows are not too many for fifty 
acres. Ten cows may be kept on thirty to forty acres. 
The modern plan is to restrict the pasture to a few acres 
and feed with silage or soiling crops. Summer feeding 
is necessary to keep up a regular output of milk, and it 
is best to begin with this fact settled, so time and effort 
will not be wasted in experiments, nor an undue amount 
of land given up to pasturage. 

A fact in favor of the dairy is that the owner can esti- 
mate both income and expense with reasonable certainty. 
Prices on milk and butter change little, especially where 
there are private customers. Any one who has a suitable 
location can command top-notch prices for dairy prod- 
ucts which are handled with taste and skill. The demand 
is continual, is never exceeded by supply, and high prices 

114 



MAKING A DAIRY FARM PAY 115 

are willingly paid for choice goods by a large class of 
customers who place quality above cost. 

To get the advantages of dealing with this class of 
trade, one should be located convenient to transportation. 
After securing a good equipment, and learning how to 
produce and sell, it will be easy to find private customers 
who will pay 25 to 50 per cent more than market quota- 
tions for products that they know to be right. If located 
near a provincial city, the marketing may be done by 
team. 

Good marketing means the difference between success 
and failure. In Europe, by means of co-operative asso- 
ciations, the middleman is cut out and the farmer and 
consumer get together. There is no reason why that plan 
may not succeed in this country. 

Selection is more important than breed in starting a 
dairy. See that the cows come up to requirements in 
milk production, and are healthy. Then guard against 
dirt and disease, and feed systematically. Alfalfa, alsike, 
millet, shredded cornstalks, ground oats or corn, beets, 
bran and shorts are the best articles of fodder. Corn 
silage is excellent, winter or summer, and oilcake may be 
needed for its digestive qualities when stock is not on 
grass. 

No dairy is on the right basis if not earning at the rate 
of $100 a year for each animal. Considerably more than 
this will be earned if good selling connections are estab- 
lished. I have personal knowledge of a ten-cow dairy 
that has advanced steadily from $60 to $125 a month. 

Observant farmers know that while the income from 
milk is large, it does not represent the entire value of a 
dairy. Hogs fed with skimmed milk and corn gain 
faster than if fed with corn alone, and skimmed milk is 
also an aid in poultry raising. Thus the dairy stimulates 
two other important branches of farming, and many a 
worn-out and almost worthless farm has been restored to 



116 MAKING A DAIRY FARM PAY 

a highly profitable state by the fertilizer returned by the 
cattle. 

The selection of feeds is of prime importance in the 
profitable management of a herd of dairy cows, and, next 
to the selection of cows of the proper type and breeding, 
is the factor of greatest importance in profitable dairying. 
Feed cows daily one pound of grain for every three 
pounds of milk produced ; from 25 to 40 pounds of corn 
silage, and what clover or alfalfa hay they will eat. 

Do not turn cows out to remain and suffer in cold, 
stormy weather. Allow them to have water which is not 
colder than that from a deep well twice or three times 
daily. It is a good plan to heat their drinking water in 
the tanks or troughs. Brush cows daily if you can pos- 
sibly find the time, for it pays better than does grooming 
of horses. Keep cows in clean, well lighted, properly 
ventilated stables. 

Do not try to save feed by turning to pasture too early. 
Provide plenty of pure, fresh water, shade and protection 
against flies during the heat of summer. Supplement 
poor pastures with corn silage or green soiling crops like 
rye, peas and oats, green corn fodder, cabbage and other 
available feed. 

Treat cows gently and avoid excitement. Be regular 
in time of feeding and milking. Weigh the milk of each 
cow at milking time. 

Get your neighbors to share with you in owning a Bab- 
cock milk tester, and test the milk of each individual 
cow. Discard the cow which has failed at the end of 
the year to pay market price for all the feed she has 
consumed. 

Breed your cows to a pure-bred registered dairy bull, 
and raise well the heifer calves from the best cows. 
Breed heifers to drop their first calves at 24 to 30 months 
of age. Give cows six to eight weeks' rest between lacta- 
tion periods. 



Forage Problem Demands Attention 

Farmers who are after the dollars should settle the ques- 
tion of summer forage at once and for good. With the 
increased value of land, larger pastures cannot be main- 
tained without loss. Frequent droughts also help to make 
them unprofitable. 

It has come to a point where owners of dairies, beef 
cattle, horses, or any kind of live stock, frequently lose as 
much money as a result of light pastures during three 
months of dry summer weather as they can make in the 
rest of the year. A total abandonment of pasturage 
is not recommended, but the grazing fields should be 
improved and silage and soiling crops made an auxiliary 
for summer feeding. 

One reason why so many pastures become short or fail 
altogether in summer is that they do not contain enough 
variety of grasses for forage plants. The ordinary pas- 
ture is a timothy meadow which has been run as a 
meadow for several years. This one grass plant is soon 
killed out, and nothing remains but chance grasses and 
weeds, all of doubtful forage value. 

For a pasture to be good all through the season, it 
must contain a variety of grasses and good forage plants. 
Some of these will come in early in the spring, then 
become dormant, to again revive and grow for fall and 
early winter use. While these early grasses are dormant 
in midsummer, other grasses will be at their best. 

The following makes a good mixture on ordinary soils : 
Orchard grass, redtop, timothy, English and Italian rye 
grass, red clover and alsike. 

It is important to seed or reseed the pasture every 

117 



118 FORAGE PROBLEM 

second year, and this may be done at almost any time, 
preferably in late summer, so that the young plants will 
have cool weather for starting growth. It is a good plan 
to harrow the pasture once each year to break up large 
manure masses and to scratch the surface soil. 

By all means, have two or more pastures, so that they 
can be used in rotation, allowing one to rest and renew 
growth while the other is in use. Continuous eating and 
tramping will kill out any pasture. Give each pasture two 
or three periods of rest during the growing season, and 
where the area is limited, grow soiling plants for green 
feeding when the pasture is short and needs rest. 

Whether for keeping up the milk supply or pushing 
the growth of meat animals, it pays to raise cowpeas and 
oats together, cutting them for use as a green fodder 
before the oats have ripened. Other crops having special 
value are millet, vetch and rape. The latter is particu- 
larly good for hogs and sheep. A patch of artichokes will 
also bring these animals along nicely. 

Live stock is good property. Every farm should raise 
and mature for the market all that it can safely handle 
and maintain in thrifty condition. Cows, sheep and hogs 
are of special advantage on the small farm. The market 
value of good breeding animals may be made two or 
three times that of common, ordinary grade. All kinds 
of farm stock is in good demand. High prices prevail 
and an oversupply can not be anticipated for years to 
come. The average farmer should keep a variety of ani- 
mals so as to have something for the market all through 
the year. The dairy and poultry features should be 
pushed to the limit. 

The Siberian alfalfas are found growing in abundance 
in dry regions, where the mercury freezes in the ther- 
mometer, often with no snow on the ground. The sum- 
mers are so dry and hot that camels find a congenial 
home. If we could clothe our hillsides and plains with 



FORAGE PROBLEM 119 

these wild Siberian alfalfas, we would increase their pres- 
ent feeding capacity for stock from four to eight times. 

Seeds and plants for these hardy varieties are obtain- 
able in a limited way, and if they prove as vigorous here 
as they are in their native home under trying conditions, 
they will soon become a leading feature of our flora, and 
add immensely to our agricultural wealth. The trans- 
planting of alfalfa plants, although new to us, is some- 
thing that has been practiced for centuries in parts of 
India and South America. 

The modern idea of a hardy alfalfa is one that will take 
its place as a wild plant and hold its own with buffalo 
grass and other wild grasses; one that will cover our 
steep bluffs and hillsides, now barren; one that will 
flourish in our gumbo soils in western localities ; one that 
will make our rough land and "sheep quarters" immensely 
more valuable than at present. 

Where the common blue-flowered alfalfa does not 
suffer from the winter at any time, it is wise to "let well 
enough alone." But north of this line is a vast region, 
stretching clear to the Arctic circle, where these Siberian 
alfalfas will reign supreme in the near future, and they 
may find a congenial home in the high mountain regions 
in the Rockies far to the south. 

Some people are inclined to shut their eyes and ears 
to the fact that the common alfalfa is sometimes winter- 
killed, and blame the farmer for all the failures; such 
people like to tell only about its successes and to dis- 
regard the failures. This is not the best way. The other 
extreme would be to wait until the seed of perfectly hardy 
plants is obtained in commercial quantities. 

Either view is extreme and unwise. We would plant 
the best seed obtainable, taking care that it is as free as 
possible from weed seed. Turkestan alfalfa, which was 
brought over for the first time in 1898, has made good 
over a wide area. 



120 FORAGE PROBLEM 

Alfalfa is so valuable that even one good crop is a 
paying investment. But we must not place all our hopes 
upon it as absolutely safe, since even our most enthu- 
siastic growers admit that the plant winter-kills on cer- 
tain soils and under certain conditions. Some think that 
a perfectly hardy alfalfa is not to be expected. But why 
not? Does buffalo grass ever winter-kill? 

American experimenters have brought alfalfa from 
Sweden and Russia and are greatly pleased with the 
extremely vigorous, upright habits of growth, quick re- 
covery after cutting, many stems and large leaves, the 
abundant seed production, and the fact that the seeds are 
tightly retained in the pods instead of shelling prema- 
turely. The flowers vary greatly in color from blue to 
yellow, ranging into green, dark violet and purple. 

This hybrid condition of the plants should be main- 
tained in order to get the greatest amount of forage per 
acre. From many successful experiments has come the 
belief that the complete solution of the hardy alfalfa 
question is in sight. 

No movement for the betterment of agriculture is more 
general or extensive than that to provide silage for cattle. 
The system has been slow in gaining a hold, but it is 
coming with a rush now. For a time some of the large 
milk dealers objected to silage as feed, but this opposition 
was not justified, and has been withdrawn. 

Beef cattle are brought along faster and better with 
silage for fodder than by any other method. Of course, 
in all cases a light percentage of dry feed or roughage is 
needed. 

The silo has its use on a farm of any size. It brings 
system and certainty into the farmer's affairs, and is 
profitable from any point of view. A field of corn goes 
about twice as far in silage as in the old method of 
feeding. 

It is generally conceded that silage which is several 



FORAGE PROBLEM 121 

months old is better than newer feed. Some feeders pre- 
fer silage that is six months to a year old. Silage is 
strong in carbohydrates, the principal food requirement 
for all animals, but needs protein to balance it. Alfalfa 
hay is perhaps the cheapest and best for this purpose. 
Throughout the dairy sections it should form a part of 
the ration where silage is used. This makes it possible 
for the feeder to gain a greater economy in his opera- 
tions, and at the same time give the animal a wholesome, 
balanced ration. 

Corn silage may be fed out of doors, in bunks, in the 
stall, or in any place where animals can eat it without 
waste. In severe weather it is best to feed silage inside, 
as some will freeze, and this will be hard for the stock to 
masticate, although the feeder need not be alarmed over 
feeding freezing ensilage. It will not injure the animals, 
but frozen food is not easy for them to consume. 

In feeding milch cows, it is a good plan to give the hay 
in a rack outside, where the animals will not waste it, and 
feed the ensilage in the barn after milking. It may be 
given twice a day in rations from ten to fifteen pounds 
at a feeding, or twenty to forty pounds per day. Some 
large animals will take as high as fifty pounds of silage 
per day and make good use of it. Feed the ensilage so 
that the animals will eat it up clean, as it spoils when 
exposed to the air for several days. 

In some of the most carefully managed experiments 
ever made, silage has surpassed the usual grain feeding 
in bringing on beef cattle. The ease and rapidity with 
which gains are made, the greater efficiency of the feed 
when given to young animals, the larger number that can 
be handled, and the splendid quality of the finished prod- 
uct, are points which strongly appeal to feeders in favor 
of silage for making beef. 

Even when it comes to the finishing process in the last 
month of feeding, it is found that silage is suitable for 



122 FORAGE PROBLEM 

the morning and evening rations, while dry corn may be 
used at noon. The stock will require a certain amount of 
hay, and should have access to this as desired. Nothing 
else is needed except the usual allowance of cottonseed or 
linseed meal. 

Sand vetch is also known as hairy vetch. The plant 
produces many slender branches, 6 feet long, and the 
leaves and branches are covered with a coat of fine hairs. 
The seeds are small and black. If the field is not pas- 
tured too closely, the seed pods burst open when ripe and 
reseed the field. 

Spring seed should be sown the last of April to the 
middle of May. If grown for forage, it is well to seed 
vetch with oats and wheat. The reason for this is that 
the grain keeps the vetch off the ground. If the seed is 
drilled, sow one bushel per acre. If broadcasted, 1^/2 
bushels per acre. Seed also one bushel of oats as a nurse 
crop. 

The name implies that it is best grown on a sandy loam 
soil; however, it grows well on poor soils — and so do 
cowpeas or clover. All stock relish the green forage and 
cured hay. Experiments show that it yields between two 
and three tons of hay per acre. 

Soy beans make a rich late summer pasturage, a good 
soiling crop, a splendid ensilage crop, and a cured hay 
equal in palatability and feeding value to alfalfa hay. 
They yield twenty to thirty bushels of seed per acre, worth 
$2 to $3 per bushel, and can be ground into meal that will 
take the place of cottonseed meal, oil meal, tankage, 
gluten or other high-class concentrates, at much less cost. 

Owing to their rapid growth, soy beans are an admi- 
rable catch crop to follow wheat, oats, crimson clover, 
potatoes or other early crops. They greatly improve the 
condition of the soil upon which they grow and enrich its 
store of nitrogen and humus. 

As compared with the valuable and widely popular 



FORAGE PROBLEM 123 

cowpeas, soy beans have a wider range of usefulness, 
are more easily cured for hay, much more easily har- 
vested and thrashed for seed, yield more seed, ripen more 
evenly, are more nutritious, command a better price, are 
less sensitive to frost, lose less in handling of the hay, 
crack less in thrashing, are less likely to be attacked by 
weevil, and the roots and stubble leave more nitrogen 
and humus in the soil. Cowpeas have the one superior 
virtue of making a heavier yield on a poor, sandy soil. 

As a main crop, sow soy beans ten days after corn 
planting time, as a catch crop, as soon as the prior crop 
is off the land. If drilled in rows to be cultivated, one- 
third of a bushel will seed an acre; if drilled solid, like 
wheat, use six pecks. 

For hay, cut when the pods are fully formed ; for seed, 
cut when the plants begin to turn yellow, cure as for hay, 
and thrash. The thrashed forage will be eaten greedily 
by horses and cattle and they will thrive on it. At 
present prices soy beans are one of the most profitable 
crops that can be grown, and they fit admirably into 
almost any good system of crop rotation. 

A still newer crop of great value to live stock owners 
is called guar. If this fodder crop proves to be all that 
is claimed for it, some of the others will be relegated to 
the background. Guar is described as an erect annual 
reaching a height of three to four feet in an arid country 
and five to seven feet in the rain belt. As a land im- 
prover it ranks wdth the cowpea, and as a forage plant it 
is said to equal alfalfa. Just imagine the amount of 
forage in a crop of alfalfa six feet high ! Guar is said 
to produce enormous quantities of seed — twenty to thirty 
bushels per acre, even in a dry country, and proportion- 
ately larger yields in humid countries. In the cultiva- 
tion of any of these legumes there is something to be 
made in producing seed, as well as hay. 



Cows Kept at a Loss 

E. V. Ellington, in charge of dairy production, Idaho 
experiment station, discusses herd testing and the dairy 
industry in that state as follows : 

While there are many high producing cows in the 
Northwest, the average production of cows being milked 
is low. Figures from the last census show that there 
are in the state of Idaho approximately 80,000 cows being 
milked that are classed as dairy cattle. 

The value of dairy products produced in the state of 
Idaho is only $2,000,000. These figures indicate that 
many cows are being kept at an actual loss to the farmer. 
Records that the writer has kept on different herds over 
the state during the past year show that 20 per cent of 
the cows were not paying for the feed they consumed. 
For every dollar expended for feedstuffs some animals 
were only giving returns of 75 and 80 cents. 

The dairy cow may be compared to a machine. Raw 
material is furnished her in the form of alfalfa, oats and 
barley, and milk is the finished product. Milk production 
is a question of dollars and cents and if the machine for 
the manufacture of milk cannot be operated on an 
economical basis then it should be disposed of. 

There is only one means whereby the profitable cow 
may be detected with certainty from the unprofitable one, 
and this method consists in weighing and testing the 
milk and keeping a record of the feed consumed for the 
entire lactation period. 

Keeping daily records of milk is a very simple and inex- 
pensive task. All that is necessary is to have some form 

124 



cows KEPT AT A LOSS 125 

of scales and a ruled sheet whereby the milk weights may 
be recorded daily. It is well to use spring balance scales 
that will weigh from one-tenth to thirty pounds. 

The fat test should be made at least once a month, the 
testing to be done at regular intervals. Samples from 
both morning and evening milking should be used. For 
the small herd a four-bottle Babcock tester is of sufficient 
size and may be secured at small cost from any creamery 
supply company and includes full directions for conduct- 
ing the test. The manipulation of the fat test is very 
simple, but the directions should be carefully followed. 

Guesswork is expensive to the dairyman. No person is 
able to go into a good sized herd and pick out all the best 
cows by examination. The highest degree of success 
cannot be attained unless the dairyman knows accurately 
the record of each cow. Success in dairying will depend 
upon the farmer's ability to lower the cost of producing 
a pound of butter-fat. 

With increased cost of every item which goes into the 
maintenance of a dairy herd, from wrapping paper to 
hay, and from the fencing around the farm to the labor 
required in every operation, has come the absolute 
necessity of getting every part of the dairy on a paying 
basis or else facing a deficit either in money, which is 
likely, or in depreciation of the farm land, or in under- 
paid labor. All of which is primary and fundamental 
experience with the eastern cow-man. 

For this fact remains: Well-tilled land will produce 
crops sufficient to pay a fair return on labor and invest- 
ment even if sold in the open market. The feeding of 
the farm crop to a dairy cow, and the production by that 
cow of milk, and its further handling on the farm into 
butter and cheese — provided always that the cow is a sat- 
isfactory dairy animal — is proven to be the most profit- 
able way of disposing of products of the farm, under 
existing conditions of demand and cost of transportation, 



126 COWS KEPT AT A LOSS 

and at the same time returns the largest possible con- 
servation of fertility to the land itself. What, then, is the 
answer ? 

First, the cow must be a satisfactory dairy animal. 
Second, the manner of the farm management must be 
such as to get a maximum of the best food possible out 
of the soil to use as raw material for the cow machine 
to produce milk from. 

Here hinges the question of dairy pre-eminence. The 
state whose farmers learn best to produce the most valu- 
able and effective feeding materials from their land, and 
who learn how to build their dairies up with the best 
possible dairy cows, will lead the world in the excellence, 
the volume, and the value of its dairy products. Den- 
mark is the shining example of the entire world, and in 
Denmark the key to the result is the cow-testing asso- 
ciations. 

For in dairying, as in fruit culture, the ultimate profit 
depends upon the profit of each individual, cow, or tree, 
or vine. The value of a dairy herd is measured not by its 
best member in her best month, but by the average of all 
its members for twelve months, and this average is pulled 
down by its poorest member, as much as it is raised by its 
best, and there is no way known to know just what each 
cow is doing but by actual test. Without fear of success- 
ful contradiction it can be asserted that the dairy expert 
does not exist who can tell the best cow in a herd except 
by the scales and the Babcock tester, nor the value of a 
cow without an experience covering months. 

This is a plea for the organization of cow-testing asso- 
ciations based upon actual experience which has come 
under the observation of the writer. First of all, why an 
association — why not individual testing? The only rea- 
son is because the average individual will not start and 
continue the test, and it must be thorough and complete 
to mean anything. 



Importance of Cow Testing Associations 

The difference in dairy profits is not so much a difference 
in market advantages as in the handling and manage- 
ment of the cows. One farmer keeps cows that turn 
out a quantity of milk that puts the gross returns well 
above the cost of keeping the cows, while the other's 
milking herd is giving a supply the value of which is 
just running along on or near the same line as the cost 
of production. In the one herd quite frequently are 
found some cows that are turning in large profits and 
cows that are barely paying for their keep. The average 
profit from such a herd will depend entirely on the pro- 
portion of cows in each class. 

The University of Nebraska, in a bulletin issued re- 
cently, shows clearly through the results of a cow-testing 
association in a county of Nebraska, that it is the amount 
of milk produced by the cow that determines her value 
and the value of dairying as a business. In part, this 
bulletin reads : 

The good cow judge can generally tell the difference 
between cows of high and low productive capacity, but 
very few judges, if any, can always tell by type or con- 
formation the cow producing 300 pounds of butter- fat 
from the one producing only 200 pounds. As a matter 
of fact, the only accurate way of discovering the un- 
profitable cow is with the scale and Babcock test. The 
truthfulness of this statement has been brought out in 
many instances. The former owner of Jacoba Irene, 
keeping no records of her production, considered her 
only an ordinary cow and sold her for an ordinary price. 

127 



128 IMPORTANCE OF COW TESTING 

Her worth was only determined after her owner took 
steps to have her tested. These figures revealed the re- 
markable fact that in less than a year she produced i,iii 
pounds of butter, or more butter than is being produced 
by seven average Nebraska cows. 

Dairymen need a variety of fodder crops. With sum- 
mer drouths always possible, it is a good plan to have a 
field of rye and clover sown in the fall. This, like the 
first cutting of alfalfa, will be ready quite early. For 
midsummer emergencies it is well to have soy beans, cow- 
peas, millet or alfalfa. Cowpeas and oats may be sown 
together for a late hay crop. 

Just west of Omaha, in Douglas County, is located a 
very prosperous, progressive farming community. Here 
the price of farm land is already in the neighborhood of 
$200 per acre. In this locality and in this connection it 
is of interest to note that the farmer who years ago could 
not be forced into dairying, has now turned to it and is 
getting satisfactory results. These farmers fully realize 
the importance of keeping accurate records of the amount 
of milk and fat produced by each cow in the herd. They 
also realized that through a co-operative cow-testing asso- 
ciation the expense of obtaining these records would be 
very materially reduced and the Douglas County Cow- 
Testing Association was organized. The members of 
this association entered 21 herds, comprising some 435 
cows. The work of the tester consisted in keeping ac- 
curate records of the amount of milk and butter-fat pro- 
duced by every cow in the various herds and also in mak- 
ing careful estimates of the feed consumed by these 
cows. To do so he had to spend one day each month 
with every herd belonging to the association. In addi- 
tion to this work this man was ever ready with sugges- 
tions as to how the rations could be improved for eco- 
nomical milk and butter-fat production. 

The following table shows the difference between ten 



IMPORTANCE OF COW TESTING 129 

good cows and ten bad ones. An accurate account of 
feed and milk production was kept : 

Ten most profitable cows. Ten least profitable cows. 

1 $123.58 I (Loss) $13.73 

2 1 16.96 2 1.62 

3 108.74 3 2.84 

4 108.10 4 3.85 

5 104.15 5 7.10 

6 96.66 6 9-09 

7 95-59 7 10.27 

8 94.97 8 ii-H 

9 92.11 9 12.07 

10 92.02 10 13.57 



Total $1,032.88 Total $85.28 

From this table the reader will notice that a herd com- 
posed of 10 of the best cows would yield a profit of over 
$1,032. Compare with this the meagre profit of only 
$85 that would come to the dairyman as a result of a 
year's work with a herd composed of 10 of the poorest 
cows, and there is at least one evident reason why the 
farmer who keeps no record of the amount of milk pro- 
duced and who thinks it of no importance to test the milk 
for butter-fat fails to make dairying profitable. 



Dairy By-Products Are Important 

The value of the dairy by-products of the country for 
one year amounts to more than fifty miUion dollars, ac- 
cording to an estimate made by the Department of Agri- 
culture; and this is a conservative estimate. The item 
of dairy products is one of vast importance, and is well 
worthy of careful attention and study. 

Skim-milk is by far the most important by-product 
from the dairy, and the best adapted to varied and profit- 
able uses. Skim-milk, as a human food, is unappreciated 
by most farmers; but it has been tested under various 
conditions, by food experts, and has proven a useful 
portion of an everyday diet for many people. The use 
of skim-milk ought to be encouraged, and would result 
in finding city markets for a large amount of this val- 
uable by-product. 

A report from one of our leading colleges contains the 
following : 

"Skim-milk has all the protein and half of the full 
value of the whole milk and is in most localities the most 
economical source of animal protein. The food elements 
in skim-milk are equal in physiological value to those of 
meats and are far less expensive." 

As an article to substitute for water, in the preparation 
of various dishes, as well as for others that are made 
mainly of milk, there is no waste, but a decided gain in 
food-value. In making bread, skim-milk will add to the 
weight and nutritive value of the loaf. Used in place of 
water, sufficient flour may be saved to pay for the milk, 
and yet produce a loaf of equal weight, and of more 
actual food value. 

130 



DAIRY BY-PRODUCTS ARE IMPORTANT 131 

Milk bread is richer in fatty matter, and superior in 
flesh forming elements, which is scientifically explained 
as being due to the casein of milk being incorporated with 
the fibrin of the flour. 

The sale of skim-milk to bakers and confectioners 
should be encouraged, and is capable of being largely in- 
creased. Used in this manner, it may be made to net the 
consumer one dollar a cwt., or more than a large per 
cent of the farmers and dairymen realize for their whole 
milk. 

As a food for domestic animals skim-milk occupies 
the most conspicuous position of any food-stuff, espe- 
cially as a feed for young and growing animals. The 
facts which seem to have been proven by the various ex- 
periments are as follows: 

"Skim-milk gives the best returns when fed to very 
young animals, constituting the larger part of their 
rations. 

"It is next best for animals making rapid growth, but 
which need other feed than milk, mainly of a carbona- 
ceous nature. 

"Except for very young animals skim-milk gives the 
best returns when used in combination with other foods 
generally grains. 

"No class of live stock will give larger returns for 
skim-milk than poultry of various kinds." 

At the New York Experiment Station chickens were 
grown successfully on a diet composed mainly of skim- 
milk, although they were allowed a run of the fields dur- 
ing the time when they were being fed this ration. 

It was estimated that at the test, after allowing from 
25 cents to 50 cents per hundred for the skim-milk, and 
some other feed in proportion, the cost of producing one 
pound of live weight was less than six cents at the time 
when the birds weighed three pounds. 

During this time the milk was fed sweet; but it has 



132 DAIRY BY-PRODUCTS ARE IMPORTANT 

been found equally satisfactory when fed thick and lop- 
pered, and the waste is less in the latter form. 

If a premium were offered for the most rapid gains in 
pig feeding, my opinion would be that some man skilled 
in feeding skim-milk with other foods would carry off 
the prize. Professor Henry, of Wisconsin, a high au- 
thority on feeding domestic animals, says regarding the 
value of skim-milk as a food for swine: 

''Skim-milk has a value as a feed for stockmen that 
is higher than merely serving as a substitute for grain. 
All of the constituents of milk are digestible and this 
valuable by-product of the creamery is rich in bone and 
blood building constituents." 

When we consider the use of this food for bone and 
muscle building, and also remember its easy digestibility, 
and that by adding a variety it makes other food articles 
more palatable, and probably assists in their digestion, 
we must hold skim-milk as occupying a high place in the 
list of feedstuffs available on most farms. 

Authorities seem to differ as to the merits of sweet 
and sour milk as a feed for swine. My experience con- 
vinces me that either is desirable; but the sudden change 
from sweet to sour, and from sour to sweet, must be 
avoided in feeding any kind of domestic animals. 

Calves appear to be the next in favor, as profitable 
consumers of skim-milk, and some feeders appear to 
think that they can feed their skim-milk to calves, and 
derive more profits from it than by feeding it to swine; 
but this depends, to a large extent, upon the good qualities 
of the animals that are being fed. 

In feeding skim-milk to calves one cent's worth of oil- 
meal will take the place of a pound of butter fat that 
has been removed from the milk, besides, when the milk 
is fed warm from the separator, it is better for the calves 
than milk that is cold and sour. 

A young animal that is fed on skim-milk, with mill 



DAIRY BY-PRODUCTS ARE IMPORTANT 133 

feed or grains, may be made to weigh almost as much as 
one of similar breeding and fed on whole milk with the 
same kind of grains, at one year of age. 

Calves, for veal, may be started on whole milk, and 
then gradually changed to skim-milk, and fed for awhile, 
and then made ready for market by feeding for a week 
or two on whole milk to put on a smooth finish and im- 
prove their sale. 

In feeding skim-milk to calves, overfeeding is dan- 
gerous, and must be avoided. Calves are more easily 
made sick by being fed poor milk than pigs. Skim-milk 
has also been fed to lambs, horses and colts with success. 

Cheese may be made from skim-milk, and could be 
made a profitable outlet for large quantities of the by- 
product. A product called Dutch cheese, or pot cheese, 
is also made from skim-milk, and finds a ready sale in 
many cities or villages. With this, there seems to be no 
established price; but some claim to be able to make a 
dollar's worth of this cheese from loo pounds of skim- 
milk. 

Buttermilk ranks close to skim-milk in feeding value; 
but its physical condition requires that more care be 
exercised in feeding it than is required in feeding skim- 
milk. 

As a human food it is excellent, and for cooking it is 
in demand ; but it has been the common practice for many 
city dealers to sell poor skim-milk for buttermilk, after 
it has become soured and unfit for use ; this has had the 
effect of decreasing the demand for buttermilk. 

Good buttermilk, fresh from the churn, is more val- 
uable for cooking purposes than whole milk. 



How to Obtain a Good Stand of Corn 

A PERFECT stand of corn is that which produces the 
greatest possible yield. This is affected by the number 
of stalks and their arrangement on the surface of the 
soil. 

Of course, a perfect stand for one soil might be only 
half a stand for another, while a perfect stand for a 
wet season might be too thick a stand for the same soil 
in a dry season. 

However, no absolute rules can be laid down which 
will enable the corn grower to decide how far apart he 
shall make his rows, or how thick the stalks or hills shall 
stand in the row. 

No one can foretell what the season will be. The 
number of square feet of soil required to support a hill 
or stalk of corn varies with the soil fertility, cultivation, 
rainfall, and other seasonal or climatic conditions, the 
variety of corn, and many other factors. 

While it is probably impossible to secure a perfectly 
even distribution of stalks or hills, recent experiments 
and experience combine to indicate that each stalk or hill 
should stand as nearly as possible in the center of a square 
of soil from which it draws its food. 

The size of this square will, of course, be determined 
by the distance between stalks in the row and between 
rows. 

What this distance should be under the conditions ex- 
isting in the different corn-growing States may be sug- 
gested, if not finally determined, by the tests carried on 
in the different States. 

At the Nebraska Station, corn grown in hills 44 inches 

134 



HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD STAND OF CORN 135 

apart, each way, produced the highest yield of grain 
when planted at the rate of four kernels per hill, but 
five kernels produced an almost equally high yield of 
corn and a slightly greater yield of stover. 

Two kernels per hill produced the largest ears, and 
one kernel per hill the greatest number of two-eared 
plants, tillers, and ears per hundred plants. The per- 
centage of barren plants increased with the number of 
plants per hill. 

These facts sometimes lead seed growers to plant very 
thinly in the hope of producing very large ears for seed, 
but the opposite practice is found to result in seed having 
the greatest producing power, as it may result in the 
elimination of barren plants, and those that do not pro- 
duce well under adverse conditions. 

Corn grown at three rates, namely, at I, 3 and 5 plants 
per hill, for three years, showed an average producing 
power of 3.6 bushels more for the thickest planting than 
for the thinnest. 

At the Kansas Station, corn was grown in rows, 2, 
2/^> 3, 33^ and 4 feet apart, and from 4 to 20 inches 
apart in the row; both listed and surface-planted corn 
were tested in rows 3j^ and 4 feet apart, but all narrower 
rows were surface planted. 

Both listed and surface-planted corn gave the best re- 
sults when the rows were 4 feet apart, and the stalks 
16 inches apart, while in 1891 the best results were ob- 
tained when rows were 3^^ feet apart, stalks 16 inches 
apart. 

The average results for three years' work at the 
Missouri Station indicate that the maximum yields from 
corn planted in hills 45 inches apart each way, was ob- 
tained from planting 3 or 4 grains per hill, 4.3 bushels 
per acre less being secured from planting 2 grains per 
hill. Lower yields were secured in hills 45 by 22y2, or 
4.S by 15. 



136 HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD STAND OF CORN 

On good land the largest yield of 70.4 bushels per acre 
was secured by leaving 4 stalks per hill, in hills 45 inches 
apart each way, while on poor land the largest yield of 
36 bushels per acre resulted from thinning to 2 stalks 
per hill. 

Four stalks per hill gave a yield of 6.6 bushels less per 
acre, more than half of which was unmerchantable. One 
stalk per hill produced almost as large a yield on poor 
land as did 4, and almost every ear was merchantable. 

In all cases the thicker the planting the larger the yield 
of stover and the greater the proportion of nubbins. 

Eighty-five per cent of a stand produced 2^/2 bushels 
per acre more grain than did 85 per cent of a stand in 
which the missing hills were replanted, and 12 bushels 
more than when the entire plat was planted over. Ninety- 
four per cent of a perfect stand produced 2.2 bushels 
per acre more than 85 per cent of a perfect stand. 

At the Ohio Station, one grain every 12 inches, or 2 
grains every 24 inches, produced better results than 
three grains every 36 inches, or four grains every 48 
inches. One grain every 18 inches proved insufficient to 
secure a maximum crop, but produced the largest per- 
centage of ears. Four grains every 42 inches proved en- 
tirely too thick for best results. The work was continued 
for three years. 

Ten years' test at the Indiana Station showed that in 
seasonable years the yields of both corn and stover are 
greater from thick planting, but that in the very dry 
year of 1894 the yield of corn was less and of stover 
greater from thick planting. 

At the Maine Station, one acre of land fertilized with 
10 two-horse loads of stable manure and 750 pounds of 
commercial fertilizer produced, respectively, 5,246, 5,390, 
and 4,448 pounds per acre of dry matter when kernels 
were planted 6, 9, and 12 inches apart, but the ears were 



HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD STAND OF CORN 137 

larger when the planting was at a distance of 9 and 12 
inches. 

At the Louisiana Station, stalks 18 inches apart in five- 
foot rows, produced the largest results, although a closer 
planting might have proved more profitable during a 
more favorable season, but is not recommended as a 
general practice. 

At the Alabama Station, on poor and sandy land, to 
which complete fertilizer was added at the rate of 320 
pounds per acre, the yield was largest when the constant 
area devoted to each plant produced, was a perfect square 
in shape; that is, when 15 square feet was so planted 
that the distance in the drill was about equal to the dis- 
tance between rows. 

The highest average yield for two years resulted from 
single plants three feet, nine inches apart, in rows four 
feet apart, but plants three feet apart in rows five feet 
wide, were more cheaply cultivated. 

A row of cow-peas should be planted between corn 
rows on very poor land, in which case the corn rows 
should be at least five feet apart. 

At the Georgia Station, ten years' experiments indicated 
that land capable of producing 25 to 40 bushels of shelled 
corn per acre should be so planted as to grow 3,630 plants 
per acre. 

This number may be secured by planting 32 inches 
apart in 454-foot rows, 36 inches apart in 4-foot rows, 
or 42 inches apart in 3^ -foot rows. 

Soil capable of producing 15 to 25 bushels per acre 
produces its maximum yield when 16 square feet are 
allowed per plant, or 2,722 plants per acre. 

This number should be secured by planting 38^^ inches 
apart in 5-foot rows, 32 inches apart in 43^-foot rows, 
or 48 inches apart in 4-foot rows. Soils capable of pro- 
ducing 10 to 15 bushels per acre, give their maximum 



138 HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD STAND OF CORN 

yield when i8 to 24 square feet per stalk is allowed, or 
from 2,420 to 1,850 hills to the acre. 

Eighteen square feet per stalk may be secured by 
planting 36 inches apart in 6-foot rows, or 43 inches 
apart in 5-foot rows, or 4 feet, 3 inches apart each way. 

At the Texas Station the highest average yield for five 
varieties tested, resulted from planting 4 feet by 2j^ 
feet apart, while the planting 3 feet by 2^/2 feet apart 
stood second, 5 by 3 third, and 4^ by 3 gave the lowest 
yields. Golden Beauty and Leaming produced the best 
yields from close planting, while Thomas, 100-day Bristol 
and Forsyth Favorite, did best in 4- foot rows, planted 
2J/2 feet apart in the drill. 

The increase of 2.2 bushels per acre which the work 
at the Missouri Station indicated would result from im- 
proving the stand from 85 to 94 per cent. A perfect 
stand would, if secured for each of the 108,771,000 acres 
devoted to the corn crop in 1909, secure an increase of 
$142,620,535.20, at the farm value of 59.6 cents per 
bushel. 

As a matter of fact, however, comparatively few fields 
have even 85 per cent of a perfect stand. In view of 
the opinion of prominent authorities on this subject, that 
the average corn field has not over 66 per cent of a per- 
fect stand, while in many cases the percentage is less 
than 40, it is difficult to compute the loss resulting to the 
corn-growers of the United States from this cause. 



The Culture of Broomcorn 

The principal crops of broomcorn are raised in Kansas, 
Oklahoma and southern Illinois, although this crop will 
grow in other sections of the country where soil and 
climatic conditions are favorable. 

It is a profitable crop, as the price per ton for the 
brush usually ranges from $50 for the lower grades that 
are damaged by the weather up to $200 and over for the 
very best. The prices for 1910 ranged from $140 to $190 
per ton. 

In the Southwest it is becoming more important as a 
forage crop, and it is used to a considerable extent after 
the brush has been removed. The seed has but small 
feeding value. 

The two best types of broomcorn grown in the South- 
west particularly are the Dwarf and the Standard. The 
Dwarf is much liked because it grows only from four to 
six inches high, with a brush of from 12 to 20 inches, 
however. This type is better suited to the semi-arid 
regions and to the uplands of the broomcorn section in 
the Southwest. 

The soil should be plowed in the fall or early in the 
spring, so that it will retain as much moisture as pos- 
sible. About two weeks before planting, the land should 
be disked and harrowed, and, if necessary, harrowed a 
second time before planting. Broomcorn is a good sod- 
crop. 

Broomcorn plants are very tender, and make the most 
rapid growth in warm weather. They will not stand the 
cold of early spring like corn. The seed will rot before 

139 



140 THE CULTURE OF BROOMCORN 

germinating, or if the plant germinates the growth will 
be retarded by continued cold. 

When large areas are planted, the most convenient way 
is to divide the field into sections of about ten acres each, 
and plant at intervals of about a week. The crop demands 
prompt attention, and if this system of planting is fol- 
lowed, there is not so much danger of damage to the 
brush from rain, or becoming too ripe. 

In case farm hands are scarce, the scarcity is not so 
keenly felt, for there is not a very large crop that 
demands attention within a period of a few days. A 
few hands can take care of comparatively large fields, 
and it is much more convenient than to plant the whole 
field on a single day. 

The method of planting is about the same as for Kaffir 
corn. Plant in rows about three feet apart, and four to 
five inches apart in the row. The Standard, due to its 
large growth, is planted in rows about three and a half 
feet apart. 

Selecting good seed is very important. Good seed 
should give a germination of 90 to 95 per cent, and seed 
should not be used that falls much below this standard. 
By using seed that gives a germination test above 90 per 
cent, one bushel is sufficient quantity to plant twenty 
acres ; or two quarts of seed will plant an acre. 

The soil should be in good condition when seeded; 
then the cultivation should begin early and be repeated 
frequently to prevent the weeds from getting a start of 
the slow-growing plants. A sharp-tooth harrow is some- 
times used just as the plants are coming up. 

After one good harrowing, the field should receive 
about two cultivations of medium depth, then the rest 
of the cultivation should be shallow, so as not to injure 
the root system. 

In this way the soil is finely pulverized, forming a dust 
blanket which aids in the conservation of moisture. 



THE CULTURE OF BROOMCORN 141 

Broomcorn is a crop that will not stand in the field 
without great damage after it is ready to harvest. It 
should be harvested just as the plants are coming into 
full bloom, or when the anthers are falling from the head. 

The head of the Dwarf is enclosed in a sheaf or "boot." 
It is more convenient to pull the head than to cut it, after 
which the boot is removed. The heads are usually pulled 
and piled in bunches along the row. The brush from 
three or four rows is piled together, and after drying 
for two or three days, is gathered and stacked in small 
ricks. 

Because of the greater height of the Standard broom- 
corn, it is necessary to bend the heads over to make them 
easy to cut. The stalks are bent at a height of about 
three feet. 

Two adjacent rows are bent diagonally across the inter- 
vening space so that the portion of the stalks above the 
sharp bend is supported in a horizontal position, with the 
seed-heads of one row extending about two feet beyond 
the opposite row. 

This method is called "tabling." One man can table as 
fast as two can cut. In cutting, the operator walks along 
the spaces between the tables, and cuts the heads six or 
eight inches below the attachment of the straws. 

The brush as cut is laid by handfuls upon every second 
table, making it very convenient for loading on a wagon. 

After drying, the brush should still retain the green 
color. To accomplish this, do not dry it in the sun, as it 
will be bleached to a light-brown color. By curing in 
sheds the original green color can be retained to a large 
extent, and as a result the brush will command a much 
better price. The average time of drying is about thirty 
days. It is then threshed and baled. 



The Sugar Beet Industry 

In the general scheme of diversified farming the sugar 
beet may become one of the most profitable features. 
Sugar is an article of such general consumption that 
for economic reasons it ought to be produced in this 
country. 

While politicians may wrangle over the economic prob- 
lems of a tariff, it might be v^ell if we would bear in 
mind that homely, but wise, answer given by the im- 
mortal Lincoln when asked his opinion on the tariff. He 
said: '*If we buy from Europe a ton of rails, we get 
the rails and Europe gets the money ; but if we produce 
the rails, we have both the rails and the money." 

At the present time we have about seventy factories 
in the United States, of which ten are in California. 
In 1897 there was produced in the United States 45,000 
tons of beet sugar, while there was produced in 191 1 
560,000 tons. If it were not for the unfortunate agita- 
tions that come up over the sugar question, the sugar 
beet industry would by this time have become much 
larger than it is. 

There is land suitable for beet culture that could be used 
to produce all the sugar we need in America. The present 
consumption of sugar amounts to about four million tons, 
about one-sixth of which is produced in the United States, 
the balance being imported raw from foreign coun- 
tries where cheap labor is available, and the cost of re- 
fining the sugar in the United States is only about one- 
half cent per pound. If we imported all the sugar we 
used, and merely refined it in this country at that re- 

142 



THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY 143 

fining cost of one-half cent a pound, it would contribute 
to the American industry only about twenty-three million 
dollars, whereas to produce the same amount of sugar 
from American grown beets would contribute close to 
three hundred million dollars to the American industry. 

But there are other and more important reasons why 
the beet sugar industry should be fostered in the United 
States, and one of these is on account of the beet's value 
in crop rotation. In European countries where beet- 
growing is practiced it is found that they get much 
larger yields of crops per acre than we do in this coun- 
try. Take for example barley. Our greatest barley 
states are California, Minnesota and South Dakota; and 
from the four million acres of barley we harvest about 
ninety-two million bushels, while Germany harvests 
from about the same acreage one hundred and sixty mil- 
lion bushels, or seventy per cent more than we do. The 
same is true of other crops. Our average yield of wheat 
per acre is about fourteen bushels against Germany's 
twenty-eight bushels; our average yield of oats is about 
twenty- four bushels against Germany's fifty-eight; our 
average yield of potatoes is ninety-five bushels against 
Germany's two hundred and five. 

Moreover, European economists say that if cane and 
beet sugar could be produced side by side, the cane sugar 
at a cost of two cents per pound and the beet sugar at a 
cost of four cents per pound, it would be cheaper for the 
nation to raise the beet sugar on account of the indirect 
agricultural advantages to be obtained through rotating 
the land with sugar beets. 

Good drainage and deep plowing are necessary in the 
cultivation of sugar beets. Instead of the ordinary fur- 
row four or five inches deep, it is best to make it ten to 
fourteen inches. The reason is that the root of the plant 
is fed from the nitrogen of the air and the water from 
the soil. Very little nutriment is secured from the soil, 



144 THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY 

the larger part of the beet being water and the nitrogen 
which is caught by the leaves and absorbed by the root. 
But in the plowing, several methods are employed by 
industrious raisers. Some use an ordinary breaking 
plow and follow that with another plowing in its furrow, 
thus necessitating covering the ground twice. Others use 
a subsoiler. This is an attachment which is built into an 
ordinary breaking plow and its function is to break up 
the subsoil. This leaves the ground loose for the re- 
quired distance. 

The more progressive farmers are now adopting the 
deep tillage plow. This is a late invention that can be 
be adjusted to plow from i6 to 24 inches in depth. It 
takes from a 12 to 16-inch furrow in width and ac- 
complishes its work as fast as the regular plow. By 
using the subsoiling method of farming the use of about 
three times as much land is possible and the value of the 
productive possibilities is enhanced considerably. 

The plowing should be done as late in the fall as possi- 
ble and the land allowed to lie thus all winter. As soon 
as you can get into the fields in the spring give the land 
an extra good harrowing, and then cross-harrow it. In 
fact, put a garden finish on the field and the work of 
seeding will be materially lightened. Every hour and 
dollar expended on preparation will be well repaid in the 
reduced cost of cultivation later in the season. The man 
who plows deep and gives the field a thorough dressing 
is sure to get a good crop. 

The seeding is done with a special beet drill and the 
average distance between the rows is 20 inches. This 
is often varied, however, and some fields have given good 
yields with the rows only 16 inches apart. Others plant 
2 feet apart. It is merely a matter of the productive 
capacity of the land and the degree of wealth the farmer 
wants from the crop. The drill seeds the land in much 



THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY 145 

the same manner that oats or other small grain is drilled 
and the rows show up in the same manner as they do. 

The small plants are allowed to grow thus for a period 
of ID days or two weeks and then the farm help go 
into the field and commence thinning. This is a double 
operation. The first is done with a wide hoe, the work- 
men going along a row and at equal spaces cutting out 
the intervening plants, thus leaving a small bunch of 
plants at regular intervals along the row. This work is 
accomplished as soon as possible so that the small plants 
will have plenty of room to grow. The second opera- 
tion is the thinning of the bunches down to one plant. 
The workmen go along to each bunch and pick out all 
the plants but the most lively one, and then the most care- 
ful attention is given this plant, for if it dies there will 
not be time to grow another to maturity in its place. The 
beets require as early planting as possible and are sel- 
dom harvested before the first frosts. 

The cultivation of the beet crop should be given great 
care and the attention it needs at the time it needs it. 
Beets are cultivated at least once each week by a special 
cultivator which handles two rows at each trip across 
the field. Shallow cultivation will prove to be the best if 
the work is done frequently. It is impossible to cross- 
work the field, so it will be necessary to go through the 
field about two or three times during the season with the 
hoe and cut out all weeds. The elimination of weeds 
is necessary to give a proper beet growth. 

The beets are harvested as soon as they are ripe by 
the use of a lifter. The size of the beets precludes the 
possibility of pulling them by hand successfully. It will 
be found advisable to clean off the soil to a certain extent 
so that no losses may be had through inaccurate tare 
weight at the factory. The beets may be left in the field 
where thrown out by the lifter until the topping process 
can be reached as frost will not have any injurious effect 



146 THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY 

on the sugar values if not repeated too often. Repeated 
freezing will ruin the beet as the thawing of the beet 
releases a part of the sap and sugar that it carries. 

The topping is done with an ordinary knife, the opera- 
tion being to cut off the top of the beet so that all the 
green sprout is removed. If the topping is not done close 
enough the weigher will deduct a percentage for tare on 
account of the fact that the green top does not contain 
any sugar values. The beet need not be cut square across 
but just close enough to remove the green sprouts. After 
the beets are topped they are thrown into convenient piles 
where they await loading for transportation to the fac- 
tory. Generally the order is sent to the grower just 
when the factory desires him to start getting in his beets. 

In reference to the yields that may be expected it may 
be said that the yield will fluctuate in proportion to the 
care given the crop. One farmer having just as good 
land as the man across the road may only get a third 
of the yield owing to his slipshod methods of cultivation. 
In figures the minimum is close to six tons to the acre 
and the maximum is about 40 tons. The average may 
be close to 18 or 20 tons to the acre and at the contract 
price of say $5 per ton for 16 per cent beets you can 
figure the profits for yourself. This is not taking into 
consideration any of the indirect profits which accrue 
from this crop. Briefly speaking it may be said that time 
and again it has been shown that when beets re-rotated 
once each four years with oats, corn and wheat, it in- 
creased the yields of the other crops a considerable per 
cent. Just why, is a story in itself. 

Probably the cheapest fertilizer that you can get for 
beet land is the tops after they have been cut off the 
beets. Leaving the tops on the ground to rot through the 
winter and then plowing them under in th^ spring will 
be found to give a good coat of fertilizer and one that 
will be strong enough to nurture the crop. Stable manure 



THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY 147 

is excellent if you have it, but it should be well rotted and 
evenly spread over the field. The purchase of com- 
mercial fertilizers is made to some extent but the cost of 
the product has led to its being slowly adopted. It will 
hardly get any lower in price and if you have no fertilizer 
of any kind it will probably be best if a small amount is 
used. If any other method of fertilizing is available by 
all means use that. 

The rotation of the crops will be advantageous for it 
will give the land a rest each season. The necessities 
of the various plants are different. By rotating corn, 
wheat and oats after a crop of beets an increase in all the 
crops will be found. Some farmers find it profitable to 
rotate a crop of potatoes with the small grains. For the 
past lOO years the farmers of France have raised sugar 
beets and rotated their crops in the above manner and 
they have succeeded in building up the once barren 
wastes of France into the most productive areas in the 
world. The reason given for this is the thorough 
cultivation demanded by beets. And then almost uncon- 
sciously the same methods are adopted in the farming of 
other crops, to the added profit and advantage of the 
grower. 

The pulp resulting from the extraction of the beet 
sugar possesses great feeding values for stock and in 
almost all cases it is hauled off by the farmers as soon 
as it is thrown out at the factory. 



Irrigation by Wells Profitable 

No feature of western agriculture, except probably dry 
farming, has had as hard a struggle for recognition and 
commercial standing as that of irrigation from wells. 
Ten years ago it was hooted at as a chimera and a play- 
thing. Even today, scores of successful agriculturists 
in the west contend that it is utterly impracticable and 
unprofitable except in a few favored instances. Well 
irrigation has more enthusiastic advocates and more bit- 
ter critics than almost any measure affecting the pros- 
perity of the west. 

About 15 years ago, J. L. Bristow, now a United States 
senator from Kansas, sought to interest the farmers of 
the central west in a movement for well irrigation. Start- 
ing in the midst of a cycle of dry years, the movement 
sprang into immediate favor and assumed considerable 
proportions. 'Tump the underflow !" was Mr. Bris- 
tow's slogan. Subsequent wet years rather checked the 
movement as a country-wide proposition, yet much of the 
well irrigation in western Kansas and Nebraska and in 
Colorado of today may be traced back to Bristow's plan 
to redeem the entire west from the drought tyrant. 

Following this movement, the government, a few years 
later, began experiments which resulted in the institu- 
tion of a reclamation project at Garden City, Kan., the 
source of water supply being the underflow of the Ar- 
kansas River. This is now the most extensive well irri- 
gation district in the United States. More than 250 wells 
are drained by electric power generated at a central 
power plant. The wells are in 28 groups, a pumping 

148 



IRRIGATION BY WELLS PROFITABLE 149 

station being maintained at each group. The series of 
stations cover a distance of five miles, the water flowing 
into a huge concrete conduit, which carries it to the 
laterals radiating into the fields. About 10,000 acres of 
land are watered from this plant, mostly devoted to sugar 
beets and alfalfa. The cost of the water to the farmers 
is $3 an acre yearly, with some small fees additional, and 
after a series of years, following the plan of all gov- 
ernment projects, the great system will become the prop- 
erty of the landowners. 

At the time of the Bristow movement, not 500 acres 
in the United States were under well irrigation. Now 
the area so irrigated, including rice irrigation in Louisiana 
and Texas, is 750,000 acres. In California alone 200,000 
are under water from wells, the lift in many places be- 
ing as much as 200 feet. Critics of the new departure 
contend that water cannot possibly be lifted more than 
20 or 30 feet at any profit. California agriculturists, 
however, lift water up to 200 feet, carry it for miles in 
cement ditches, and find the growing of alfalfa, which 
sells for $15 a ton, profitable. Barley, wheat and all 
manner of crops are grown with this same expensive 
water — water which costs from $5 to $10, and even as 
high as $15 an acre for the year. 

In portions of the rice-growing sections of the South, 
water from wells is now used for flooding, in places, in 
preference to bayou or creek water. In the rice coun- 
ties of Arkansas wells furnish the water exclusively for 
a profitable industry. Rice culture requires many times 
the amount of water necessary for ordinary irrigation, 
but the crop is highly remunerative, thus making prac- 
ticable the heavy cost of pumping. 

It is manifest that large works, like the Garden City 
project, would only be feasible where large bodies of 
subterranean water exist. Such underflows, however, are 
not unusual, and in practically every region the ordinary 



150 IRRIGATION BY WELLS PROFITABLE 

well is available. True, the depth to the water varies 
and is often great and the supply may not be inexhaust- 
ible, but each in its degree will aid in the growth of crops, 
and is a valuable acquisition to any farm where the supply 
of moisture is inadequate. 

Well irrigation is especially adapted to small tracts 
of from 20 to 40 acres, but like all enterprises, large 
operations can usually be conducted more economically 
than small ones. Given the possibility of securing a good 
well, it costs approximately $25 an acre to place small 
tracts under such irrigation. In a section in New Mexico 
where a strong underflow is encountered at depths vary- 
ing from 15 to 100 feet, it is calculated that a plant can 
be installed for $2,000 which will be capable of water- 
ing 200 acres. The annual cost of operation will average 
smaller as the scale of operations increases. There are, 
however, many advantages for the small farmer, and in 
the end his profits will doubtless be large. 

Power is the most important and the most expensive 
item to take account of. Where electricity is unavailable, 
gasoline engines must be resorted to and the high cost 
of fuel, especially in the remote localities, is a serious 
obstacle. In this New Mexico locality it costs from $3 
to $4 an acre foot to produce water, and under present 
conditions 2 feet or more are necessary to produce a 
crop. The endeavor now is to combine the irrigation 
and dry farming methods, thus reducing the quantity of 
water necessary. Wind power is used to some extent 
and is less expensive than any other, but it can only be 
utilized in connection with large storage tanks or reser- 
voirs. It often happens that the wind ceases to blow 
just the time when water is most needed. 



Advantages of Concrete on Farms 

Farmers of all classes will find it profitable to have con- 
crete buildings, troughs, tanks and walks on their prem- 
ises. 

Persons starting in agriculture should not neglect the 
opportunity to have substantial and fireproof structures. 
It is easy to go ahead on this line from the beginning, 
though hard to change after a start has been made with 
frame buildings. 

Concrete is as cheap as lumber for building purposes, 
and even cheaper, if sand, gravel and labor are largely 
furnished on the place. An ordinary farm hand will be- 
come expert in the use of concrete with a few days' expe- 
rience. 

Silos, barns and other buildings made of this material 
are much safer than wood against fire and storm. There 
is satisfaction in knowing that live stock, machinery and 
crops are not in danger of being destroyed by the flames. 
It is a pleasure also to have the snug shelter and 
tasty appearance that may be obtained from cement 
construction. 

The largest part of concrete is the gravel or crushed 
stone. This should be clean; that is, free from loam, 
clay or vegetable matter. The best results are obtained 
from a mixture of sizes graded from the smallest, which 
is retained on a one-fourth inch screen, to the larger ones 
that will pass a one and one-half inch ring. For heavy 
foundation and abutment work, larger sized pebbles and 
stones might be used, while for reinforced concrete work 

151 



152 ADVANTAGES OF CONCRETE ON FARMS 

pebbles larger than those passing a one inch ring should 
not be used. 

In the selection of sand the greatest care should be 
used, and critical attention should be given to its quality, 
for sand contributes from one-third to one-half of the 
amount of the materials used in making concrete. Sand 
may be considered as including all grains and small peb- 
bles that will pass through a wire screen with one-fourth 
inch meshes, while gravel in general is the pebbles and 
stones retained upon such a screen. The sand should be 
clean, coarse, and, if possible, free from loam, clay and 
vegetable matter. 

In mixing materials for concrete use two and a half 
times as much sand as Portland cement, and twice as 
much gravel or stone as sand — that is, one part cement, 
two and a half parts sand and five parts gravel or 
crushed stone. Use just enough water to get the consist- 
ency desired. If the sand is very fine the cement should 
be increased from lo to 15 per cent. When the mixture 
does not have a uniform color, but looks streaky, it has 
not been fully mixed. 

If the mixture does not work well and the sand and 
cement do not fill the voids in the stone, the percentage 
of stone should be reduced slightly, but the concrete 
should first be properly mixed. Concrete that is poorly 
mixed may present features that are entirely eliminated 
by turning it over once or twice more. 

Concrete wet enough to be mushy and run ofif a shovel 
when being handled is used for reinforced work, thin 
walls, or other thin sections. Concrete just wet enough 
to make it jellylike is used for some reinforced work and 
also for foundations, floors, etc. It requires ramming 
with a tamper to remove air bubbles and to fill voids. 
This concrete is of a medium consistency. 

Sometimes bank or creek gravel, which will answer 
the purpose of sand and gravel combined, can be ob- 



ADVANTAGES OF CONCRETE ON FARMS 153 

tained, and it is frequently used on the farm and in small 
jobs of concrete work just as it comes from the pit or 
creek. Occasionally this gravel contains nearly the right 
proportions of sand and gravel, but in the majority of 
sand pits and gravel banks there is a great variation in 
the sizes of the grains and pebbles or gravel and in the 
quantities of each. This is due to the fact that all the 
deposits are formed in seams or pockets that make it im- 
possible to secure anything like uniformity. Therefore, 
to get the best and cheapest concrete, it is advisable to 
screen the sand and gravel and to remix them in the cor- 
rect proportions. 

Dirty sand makes a weak concrete. Crushed rock is 
much better than screened gravel because of the rougher 
edges. 

As a test of sand, rub it in the hand and if there is 
much dirt left on the hand discard that sand. 

If, when a large handful of the same is thrown into a 
pail of water, it leaves the water muddy, discard it. 

Following are the four recognized mixtures for con- 
crete : 

Rich mixture — One part Portland cement, two parts 
of clean, coarse sand, four parts of crushed rock. This 
is used for floors, fence posts, and the like. 

Medium mixture — One-half and one and two-fifths 
parts respectively of cement, sand and crushed rock. 
This mixture is used for walks and thin walls. 

Ordinary mixture — 1-3-6 for heavy walls, piers, abut- 
ments, etc. 

Lean mixture — 1-4-8 for footings and in places where 
volume and not great strength is needed. 

When gravel is used, the proportions are one part of 
cement and from six to nine parts of gravel, according to 
the amount of sand in the gravel. 

To make one cubic yard of concrete the following 
respective amounts of cement are required: Rich mix- 



154 ADVANTAGES OF CONCRETE ON FARMS 

ture one and one-half barrels; medium mixture one and 
one- fourth barrels ; ordinary mixture one and one-eighth 
barrels ; lean mixture seven-eighths of a barrel. 

In construction work such as floors, barns, fence posts, 
bridges, reinforcements of iron are absolutely necessary. 
The beginner will need the supervision of an expert in 
using reinforcements. 

Measure exact amounts for each part. Mix thor- 
oughly and not too long before applying the water. 
Cement will set in 20 or 30 minutes and if disturbed after 
that loses its strength. 

Spread the sand and cement on a mixing board and 
mix thoroughly, adding enough water when mixed to 
bring the mixture to the consistency of mortar. 

Add the proper quantity of crushed rock and mix all 
together, after which it is ready for use. In this manner 
the sand grains are all covered with the finer particles of 
cement and the crushed rock when added has all the 
voids filled with temperate mixture. This undoubtedly 
gives the greatest strength for materials used. 

A very common method, however, is to mix all three 
parts at once while yet dry and then to mix with water 
until the mixture will pack well, and handle with a 
shovel. 

Get the form walls rigid and do not use lumber that is 
too dry, as it takes up moisture and changes its shape so 
as to injure the concrete in setting. 

Do not allow concrete work to dry out fast, as cracks 
will appear. It should be protected from the sun for 
three or five days and sprinkled with water to insure even 
setting throughout the concrete. 

In two weeks concrete gains strength sufficient for ordi- 
nary use, but 60 days should elapse before it is given a 
full load. 



Important Points in Building Silos 

It is a common mistake in building silos to construct 
them without sufficient depth of foundation. In northern 
states the frost line may be five feet from the surface, and 
unless the wall is put down to this depth, the structure is 
apt to be thrown out of plumb and possibly ruined at the 
breaking up of winter. 

The weight of the silo walls makes little difference, but 
the damage is most serious where cement or brick has 
been used. Even with wooden frames there is no reason 
why the foundation should not be five feet or more in 
depth. The silo itself may be dug to any reasonable 
depth in the ground, so far as preservation of fodder is 
concerned. There is no material damage from water set- 
tling at the bottom, most of the liquid being held in the 
silage. This is merely a question of convenience, and it 
would seem wise to make the cavity as low as it is neces- 
sary to put the walls — that is, three to five feet. 

Farmers are turning from wooden silos to those of 
cement and brick, in order to gain security, many of the 
lighter structures having been destroyed by wind. They 
do not gain security, however, unless the foundation is 
right, and as the average cost is higher with cement or 
brick, it seems like a foolish risk to have any but the most 
durable work. 

In nearly every case where silo walls are seen to be 
cracked or out of plumb, it will be found the trouble 
started with a poor foundation. The necessity of making 
repairs in a new silo is not only aggravating but it is 
expensive, if thoroughly done. 

155 



156 SILOS 

There are other features of silo building which deserve 
consideration in order to prevent early damage. In brick 
construction there is danger of rushing the work too fast 
to allow for settling. A small affair like a silo goes up 
quickly with two or three skillful men on the job, and the 
walls will settle perceptibly for days after the job is com- 
pleted. This rapid construction should not be allowed. 
There is little of this kind of danger in building walls for 
a large house or store. 

The quality of the brick is worth mentioning also. A 
number of cases are known where brick plants were 
started up in a convenient place to supply the commodity 
in a hurry to a few transient customers. When it was too 
late, it was found that there was considerable lime in the 
clay, as a result of which the wall cracked in a short time, 
and much loss followed. It is economy to use brick of a 
high grade. 

Those building wooden silos need to look well to the 
foundations also. Where it can be done without incon- 
venience, the silo should be placed south or east of the 
barn, to lessen the danger from wind. It is possible to 
anchor one of these lighter structures with three or four 
iron rods. Such an addition to the expense of construc- 
tion is not more than $io or $15, and it may save the silo 
from destruction in case of a heavy storm. No invest- 
ment on the farm makes bigger returns than that em- 
ployed in providing a good silo, but without proper 
construction money is wasted instead of being gained. 

For the past fifteen years, practically all silos built have 
been round in shape, and this is the only style to be rec- 
ommended at present. The essential things in silo con- 
struction are to have an air-tight wall, smooth on the 
inside so the silage can settle properly, and a structure 
sufficiently strong to hold the enormous pressure of the 
silage, and durable enough so that it will not be necessary 
to replace it for some time. Successful silos have been 



SILOS 157 

built in a variety of ways and of a variety of materials, 
including wooden staves, concrete, wood plastered with 
cement, stone, wood, brick, iron and tile. It is not the 
purpose in this article to give details for construction of 
silos, but rather to give information regarding the sub- 
ject in general and the advantages of the first three types 
mentioned. 

The most common silo found in America is that known 
as the stave silo. This is built on the plan of a stave 
water tank. It is purchased ready to put together, requir- 
ing only that the foundation be made. A foundation is 
built of concrete. The walls should be about eight inches 
thick. A stave silo 16x32 feet will cost about $300. The 
foundation is not included in this estimate. The cost of 
a concrete block or solid wall silo of the size given is 
from $300 to $500. 

The concrete silo may be built of blocks or with solid 
walls. The latter is sometimes called monolithic. The 
kind most to be recommended is the solid wall structure. 
The advantages of a concrete silo are that when once 
properly built it is a permanent structure, and is not 
damaged by fire or wind, or from drying out. It does 
not preserve the silage any better than does one with a 
wall of wood. On the other hand, if the concrete wall is 
properly constructed, so that the air is kept out, the silage 
will be preserved in perfect condition. The objections 
that are often raised to the concrete silo, especially by 
those interested in the sale of the stave silo, are that it 
will crack and fall down, and, furthermore, that it will 
not preserve the silage. It is quite true that both these 
conditions have been met with in many cases. If the 
structure is properly reinforced, there is not the least 
danger of it cracking or falling down. If the walls are 
made of a mixture containing sufficient cement, so that 
the wall is not too porous, the silage does not spoil. It 
requires some skill to properly build a concrete silo. A 



158 SILOS 

farmer who has had no experience in concrete work 
should secure the assistance of some one who has had 
such experience before attempting to build a concrete 
silo. Cement blocks may be bought in all parts of the 
country, and they enable a farmer to put up a silo in a 
few days, at moderate cost. 

The two things to be especially regarded in building the 
concrete silo are to have an abundance of iron for rein- 
forcement and sufficient cement in the mixture to make 
the walls impervious to air. It is a good plan to go over 
the inside wall of a concrete silo each year, or at least 
every second year, before filling with a mixture of cement 
and water. The mixture should be about the consistency 
of whitewash. This helps to close up the pores of the 
wall and to exclude the air. If a concrete silo stands 
empty during the summer, the walls become very dry. 
When the moist silage is put in, the walls absorb the 
moisture from the silage. This may result in white 
mould forming near the outer edge. This condition, 
when present, indicates that the concrete has been made 
too porous. The trouble may be avoided, in case the wall 
has been made too porous, by applying the cement and 
water mixture as described. It is also well, where the 
concrete has been made too porous, to wet the walls with 
water as the silage is put in, to prevent the absorption of 
water from the silage. 

The forms for building a concrete silo cost about $50. 
It is desirable for a number of farmers to club together 
and build the forms. One set of forms may be used for 
several silos, and in this way the cost of construction can 
be reduced. 



Chance for Big Profits in Novelties 

With a keen market demand for vegetables and fruit, 
farmers have a chance to secure far larger profits than 
they can gain from grain growing or dairying. 

Mixed agriculture is the need of the times, with smaller 
farms and better cultivation. There should be the great- 
est possible range of production when markets are easily 
reached. Farmers and their sons and daughters should 
aim to produce novelties, or at least articles which are 
not commonly understood by landowners, and for which 
good prices are paid. 

A few gardeners make a large profit from salsify, some- 
times called vegetable oyster. This is one of the 
neglected products for which there is a quick sale. Many 
prefer it to the oyster, whose flavor it has a hint of, with 
all the disagreeable features of the bivalve flavor left out. 

It can be cooked in many ways. As a soup, served with 
bread or crackers, it is delicious. Fried, either by itself 
or in a batter, it is quite as appetizing as the real oyster 
when cooked in that way. 

Boiled, sliced lengthwise when tender, and fried in but- 
ter, like the parsnip, it soon becomes a favorite. 

Especially is salsify a valuable addition to our some- 
what limited list of winter vegetables, because it can be 
dug in the fall and stored in the cellar, or it can be left 
in the ground over winter and dug in the spring, when 
it will be found deliciously fresh and of fine flavor. 

The culture of this plant is of the simplest. It likes a 
rich garden loam, made mellow to the depth of a foot and 
a half. Sow it in rows for convenience in cultivating, 

159 



160 CHANCE FOR BIG PROFITS 

and keep down the weeds. If the seedlings stand too 
thick in the rows, thin them out so that the plants will be 
at least two inches apart. Sow early in the season. 

Watch the catalogues of reliable seed houses for nov- 
elties. The Trophy marked a new era in tomatoes, and 
was really the first with smooth exterior and solid inside. 
We had had smooth tomatoes before, but they had big 
seed hollows inside, and all that we had with solid meat 
were very rough, like the mammoth Chihuahua. 

But the production of the Trophy was a success, 
because it put this solid tomato inside a smooth skin, and 
ever since it has been the effort of breeders to keep it 
there. The best efforts of the breeders should now be 
devoted to the maintenance of the earliness of the extra 
early sorts, with increased smoothness. This has been 
attained in the Earliana, Globe, Success and others. 

Then there are the cucumbers, of which every seeds- 
man has his special strain. Of these I have found that 
there is nothing better than the combination of the White 
Spine and Long Green, known as the Davis Perfect. It 
is longer and slimmer than the White Spine, and earlier 
than the Long Green, and in my opinion deserves its 
name. 

Never follow the fall crop of lettuce with lettuce, for 
it is sure to be attacked by the wilt. This crop needs a 
change of soil as often as possible. It is easy to raise let- 
tuce in the winter in a room that has an even and moder- 
ate temperature. This is better than midsummer lettuce 
and sells at fancy figures. Lettuce is raised with least 
trouble in spring and fall. 

When soil can be worked in the spring, lettuce, rad- 
ishes, onions and peas should be planted in the open gar- 
den. All of these can stand considerable frost. It is 
well to put in some early potatoes. The early vegetables 
bring big profits. 

The Logan berry, a hybrid of the blackberry and rasp- 



CHANCE FOR BIG PROFITS 161 

berry, is getting a start. This fruit is originated by 
Judge Logan, of Santa Cruz, Cal. It is proving to be the 
easiest and best producing berry that can be grown on the 
Pacific coast. It is especially free from disease, is a rank 
grower, and yields enormously. It is steadily gaining in 
favor with the lady experts of cooking. It is especially 
adapted for pie cooking and jam. It is one of the many 
twentieth-century agricultural achievements. 

Many products now generally overlooked can be turned 
into cash. Seven children in one family in Areola, 111., 
made $300 one winter peeling broomcorn stalks and sell- 
ing the pith to warehouses, there to be shipped to jewelers 
and watch factories. It is used by them for cleaning 
their wares. It contains no grit nor hard fiber, and will 
absorb oil or dirt without danger of scratching. Quite 
a number of the women and children around Areola 
make some money on the side this way every winter. 

After the crop is harvested, the women and children 
gather armfuls of the stalks and pile them up back of 
the house to dry. Then, during the evenings or on rainy 
days, they peel one joint at a time and take out the clean, 
white pith. This is made up into round bundles, holding 
two or three pounds each, but nearly as large as a wash- 
tub. The price received is 25 cents a pound. There is not 
a large or unlimited demand for this material, but it pays 
quite a few dollars each winter into the pockets of the 
Areola people. 

The dasheen, like the potato, is a native of South 
America, but is not a member of the botanical group of 
plants to which the potato, tomato, eggplant and pepper 
belong. It is closely related to the tanier of the southern 
United States and the taro of Hawaii. 

It is said that dasheens are even more nourishing than 
the potato. In flavor they suggest boiled chestnuts. At the 
recent annual banquet of the National Geographical 
Society, their edible qualities were thoroughly tested. 



162 CHANCE FOR BIG PROFITS 

They have also received a favorable report of the house 
committee of a well-known New York club. It is de- 
clared that half an acre in Florida yielded 225 bushels of 
dasheens, which were richer in flavor than baked 
potatoes. 

The woman who does not raise her own strawberries 
is losing a lot of pleasure, for they grow so rapidly and 
so luxuriantly, as if they thought to be allowed to live 
were a grand privilege, and it is rare sport to watch 
them. 

Sauerkraut is easily made on the farm, and pays well. 
There are two essentials which must be observed in mak- 
ing sauerkraut : First, it must be remembered that if too 
much salt is used, the kraut will not sour as it should, 
and the quality will be impaired. 

Again, some salt must be used in order to preserve the 
cabbage till it sours sufficiently to preserve itself. When 
kraut gets sour, it is like pickles, and there will be no 
further decay. 

To make the best kraut, a slicer should be used, though 
it may be sliced with a knife, coarse, or fine, as suits your 
taste. 

Use a clean barrel or jar, put in a layer of cabbage, cut 
fine, then a little salt, using not more than a quart of salt 
to a 40-gallon barrel of kraut. 

If you like the flavor, add a little dill seed or caraway. 
When the vessel is full, fit a clean board inside, and 
weight with a clean stone, never a piece of iron. 

If your cabbage is early, and going to waste while it is 
yet warm, make the kraut and keep in a cool cellar. 

This early kraut will rot a little on top. Remove this 
every few days, and wash off the inside of the barrel and 
weight with warm water, to remove the germs of decay. 

Weeds, herbs and roots have a market value that is 
surprising to persons who do not happen to have informa- 
tion on the subject. Wholesale drug houses quite gener- 



CHANCE FOR BIG PROFITS 163 

ally buy these things, and any local druggist is able to 
give the address of a reliable firm to whom such plants 
may be sent. The following prices per pound are quoted : 

Cents 

Bayberry bark 4 

Beeswax, prime yellow 29 

Black haw bark of root 12 

Bloodroot 6 

Cherry bark, thin 7 

Clover tops (red) 5I/2 

Cohosh root (black) 2^ 

Culvers or black root 83^ 

Elm bark, select slabs 12 

Ginseng root $3 to $5 

Goldenseal root $4 

Honey, pure Sp. Needle 7 

Ladyslipper 18 

May apple root 4^ 

Pink root 25 

Poke root 4 

Prickly ash bark, Northern 15 

Sassafras bark of root lo^^ 

Senega, Northern 45 

Snakeroot button 

Snakeroot, Texas (Serpentaria) 25 

Spikenard root 12 

Wahoo bark of root 30 

White pine bark 35^ 

White poplar bark 

Wild ginger 12 

Yellow dock root 3^ 

Full directions as to how to cure medicinal plants and 
prepare them for market will be sent by the purchasers 
of herbs to any person seeking the information. 



Pin Money in Pickles 

Pickles come only partly by nature — they are born of 
work and worry. But they fetch in money — if the work 
and worry are properly expended. Notwithstanding the 
efforts of the professional pickle growers, there is every 
season more and more room for the non-professional. If 
the non-professional is a woman with a knack of season- 
ing and a dozen or so time-honored and individual family 
recipes, she may treble her profits by herself putting up 
the yield of the pickle garden. If she lacks time or 
strength or skill or facilities for that, she can at least put 
the pickles in brine or sell them fresh-cut to her neigh- 
bors, the handy huckster or her nearest grocer. 

In planning a pickle garden, first look over your 
ground — this hterally and metaphorically. The literal 
side has to do with site and soil ; the metaphorical one 
concerns the possible demand for the supply to be created 
or the possibilities of creating a new demand for some- 
thing different. Pickles worth eating are worth also a 
fair price. Resolve to be satisfied with nothing less. 
Take account here of individual taste. Hearty laborers 
relish big salt green cucumbers, but sniff disdain of fancy 
relishes and unwonted tangs or mixed flavors, such as the 
mangoes and picalilli, whose appeal to educated palates is 
irresistible. 

If the soil of the pickle garden is thin, it had better be 
devoted to cucumbers. The long green variety is best ; it 
can be cut at little-finger length, or left until almost full 
grown, and still be marketable. Have the ground made 
light and fine. 

164 



PIN MONEY IN PICKLES 165 

Keep the hills light and clean, also the whole space 
between them. Plows can run between the hills until 
the vines begin to spread. Once they fairly cover the 
earth, what grass comes up will not hurt them. Rooted 
in the rich hills, they can easily give odds to anything 
growing in poor soil. When plowing is no longer pos- 
sible, a little hoe work and hand-weeding may be in order, 
but take care neither to bruise the vines nor to throw 
loose dirt upon the leaves, especially while the dew is on. 

Unless there is a ready market close at hand, get the 
brine barrel ready as soon as the first flowers appear. It 
must be clean and sweet before the brine goes in — old 
pork and fish barrels always taint their later contents. 
Empty whisky barrels or molasses barrels do excellently, 
but should be well painted outside with red lead, to pre- 
vent the ravages of wood worms. Make the brine of soft 
water and clean salt, strong enough to float an egg. A 
little brown sugar or molasses improves the keeping qual- 
ity. Bring it to a boil, and skim clean after everything 
is dissolved. Pour it into the barrel boiling hot, let stand 
a day, and skim again before putting in pickles. 

The net result is very nearly the same whether the 
pickles are cut small or at full growth. Decide in the 
beginning which size it shall be, and stick to the decision. 
Cut the pickles every morning, while the dew is on — 
thus they are plump and cool, in the best condition for 
keeping. Use very sharp shears for clipping, and take 
care to leave the least bit of stalk to each pickle, but 
never to wound, bruise or break the vine. If by accident 
a vine is bruised or torn, cut it off remorselessly, so it 
shall not decay and set up disease in the whole plant. 
Be careful of bruising the pickles. In washing, use 
plenty of water, and drain them well before putting them 
into the brine. Keep a weighted wooden cover floating 
on top of the brine, thus insuring that the pickles shall 
stay covered. Put only one sort and size of pickle into a 



166 PIN MONEY IN PICKLES 

vessel. If saving various sorts, use brine crocks instead 
of a barrel, thus making separation easy. 

Gherkins, or prickly cucumbers, are grown in the same 
way, and yield enormously. The vines are hardier than 
those of the cucumber, will endure more handling, and 
bear a third more fruit. They need to be carefully 
watched, as old gherkins are hard and tough. In cutting 
them, snip about half way the long fruit stalk. Never 
lift a vine of anything from the ground in cutting. No 
matter how carefully the lifting is done, the laying down 
disturbs tendrils and fibers. 

String beans make excellent pickles. Plant and tend 
as though for boiling, pick when the beans are just fairly 
forming, wash and put in brine. The curious plant known 
as the Martynia bears seed pods well worth pickling. So 
does the nasturtium, if given a cool, moist, very rich 
place to grow. Both make excellent substitutes for 
capers. They are not, however, very well worth while 
commercially, unless one puts up pickles one's self for a 
special trade. 

Green peppers are fine for pickling, especially in man- 
goes. Use the big bullnose sort, and clip the pods with 
longish stalks just as they are on the point of turning red. 
Muskmelons, iDOth long and round, can be pickled at all 
stages, from the size of an egg to the edge of ripeness. 
When full grown, it is best to cut out a segment and 
scrape away the seed before putting them in brine. If 
they are meant for mango-making, tie in the cut piece 
with a soft string, and pack them well down toward the 
bottom of the barrel or crock. 

Do not plant muskmelons, cucumbers and gherkins side 
by side in a pickle garden — ^bees will carry pollen back 
and forth, tainting each with the blood of the other. 
With space for all three, keep them apart, planting them 
at opposite edges of the garden, with beans or cabbage 
or cauliflower in between. Cauliflower in itself is an 



PIN MONEY IN PICKLES 167 

excellent pickle. It can be put in brine the same as any- 
thing else. Very young corn, with grain unfilled, makes 
a pickle much relished by not a few epicures. 

There is good money in freshly cut cucumbers at 50 
cents a peck. This is for the big fellows. Very small 
ones, adapted to fine work, should be worth three times 
as much, and the intermediate sizes, a finger length and 
under, 75 cents to $1 the peck. In brine, pickles are 
commonly sold in bulk. Barrel prices vary tremen- 
dously according to the season, but are seldom low 
enough to prevent a fair margin of profit. 

Too much cannot be said about the opportunity for 
profit in growing cauliflowers. The market desires snowy 
white heads, so that protection is universally practiced to 
accomplish this purpose. Three methods are used : ( i ) 
the breaking of half a dozen or more leaves over the top 
of the cauliflower head. The stems of the leaves are not 
severed entirely, so that the leaves remain green. (2) 
Breaking or bending over the leaves as just explained, 
and pinning with toothpicks or small pins. This is a very 
satisfactory method for all sections. (3) Bringing the 
leaves together over the head and tying. This is an ex- 
cellent plan, but requires more time than securing with 
the toothpicks. The protection should begin when the 
heads are about an inch and a half in diameter. Cauli- 
flower is considered a delicacy on most tables, and it 
pays to exercise special care in the marketing. Although 
barrels are often used, crates or baskets are better. A 
package which will not hold more than a dozen or, at 
most, two dozen heads, certainly has an advantage over 
the barrels. 



The Lowly Onion a Profitable Crop 

Onions are to be classed among the surest and most 
profitable of crops. There is a constant demand for 
them at prices which give a return of $200 to $400 an 
acre. It is a product that the beginner need not fear to 
experiment with to the extent of several acres. 

Seed onions are of better flavor and keep longer and 
are more profitable to grow than sets, though some fail to 
grow them in the home garden because they are more 
difficult to keep clear of weeds. 

The best way to grow onions from seed is by sowing 
the seed in a bed or cold frame early in the season and 
transplanting later to the row where they are to grow. 
A small section of the hotbed will grow 1,000 plants till 
they are the size of quills, or they can be crowded. By 
that time the ground will be warm, and all seed will have 
germinated so that the plants may be set in clean ground 
that has been worked over to kill all the young weeds. 

If one lacks for room in the hotbed, the seed may be 
sown in a sheltered place — an old brush heap, ash bed, or 
some place where the soil is good. If there is room to 
sow the seed in drills six inches apart, they may be 
worked some to keep them growing before they are 
transplanted. 

When ready to transplant them, wet the ground and 
pull the plants and then cut oflf about half the top and 
slightly tip the roots. Set the plants from two to three 
inches apart in the row and in rows fifteen inches apart. 
If very dry, use water when transplanting, and every one 
will live. 

168 



LOWLY ONION A PROFITABLE CROP 169 

If the soil has been well fertilized with stable manure 
or poultry droppings, and worked over several times 
before the onions are transplanted to the rows, there will 
be but few weeds to contend with, and the plants will not 
be checked in growth. 

Onions should follow potatoes, beans or corn. The 
land should be well plowed in the autumn, disked and 
harrowed in the spring, until it is as fine as garden soil. 

Always manure heavily before breaking up the land in 
the fall. On new land, cowpeas are excellent for bringing 
the land into shape. 

Onions should be grown under a system of crop rota- 
tion, but the crops used in the rotation must be those that 
will not exhaust the high fertility necessary to onions. 

One of the most important things in onion culture is 
to mix the fertilizer with the soil. On land that is not 
thoroughly drained, plow in beds, leaving a double furrow 
between the beds to carry off surplus water. 

The disk harrow puts the land in fine condition after 
it has been thoroughly plowed in the fall. Never use 
manure, except that which is well rotted. Bermuda onion 
growers use as high as twenty tons of sheep and goat 
manure per acre every three years. Often, in addition to 
this, they use i,ooo to 2,000 pounds of cottonseed meal, 
and sometimes a top dressing of nitrate of soda. 

Seed is sown as early in the spring as possible, but 
never before the land is in the best possible condition. 
Seed may be sown by hand drills in rows from twelve to 
fourteen inches apart. Where horse culture is employed, 
the distance should be at least two feet. It requires about 
four pounds of seed per acre where it is drilled fourteen 
inches apart. 

As soon as the plants are growing well, the cultivator 
should be started and kept going in order to keep the soil 
in good condition and to prevent weeds. 

A great deal of the art in securing a large yield 



170 LOWLY ONION A PROFITABLE CROP 

depends upon the quality of the seed. It has been found 
in some districts that home-grown seed from selected 
bulbs is to be preferred to seed secured from seedsmen or 
from foreign markets. 

Cultivation should be more or less continuous from the 
time the plants show above ground until the crop matures. 
Some growers make a practice of cultivating the land 
once each week. This cultivation should be with either 
a wheel hoe or the so-called hand cultivator. The onion 
is a more or less shallow feeder, so that cultivation should 
only be to a depth of from an inch and a half to two 
inches. From two to three hand weedings are usually 
necessary. It is quite possible that a certain amount of 
thinning would be advisable. 

The yields obtained on the soils that are adapted to the 
cultivation of the onion are from 250 to 450 bushels per 
acre. 

From five to eight acres is all that one farmer should 
expect to care for during the season. 

Many gardeners do not properly estimate the advan- 
tage of thinning their crops. If this plan were strictly ad- 
hered to, the yield would be increased and the quality 
greatly improved. 



Give More Attention to Fruit 

There should be a more general production of fruit in 
the central states. This can be made one of the best 
features of mixed farming. Market advantages in the 
middle states, surrounding the larger cities, exceed those 
of the newer western states and climatic difficulties are 
much the same in one section as another. Apples, pears, 
cherries, plums and berries give a larger profit per acre 
than almost any other farm product. 

Experts state that more money can be made per acre 
from apples and cherries in the central states than in the 
mountainous sections farther west. The older states are 
far ahead in market advantages and are practically equal 
in soil and climate. 

Horticulture has been pushed aside by the dairy inter- 
est in some of the middle states. This is a mistaken 
policy which should be changed. The great cash markets 
and cheap and convenient transportation ought to mean 
more than they do to those farmers who are devoting 
their energies to a single interest. They enable land 
owners to diversify their crops and place their affairs on 
a business basis. 

The stories of orchard possibilities in the lake region 
are not imaginary. Some of the big successes in horti- 
culture have been achieved around Lake Superior, where 
climate and soil are thought to be less favorable than in 
localities farther south. 

There are many localities where orchards exist, but 
where fruit production is not equal to the home consump- 
tion. Farmers owe it to themselves, to change this condi- 

171 



172 GIVE MORE ATTENTION TO FRUIT 

tion and make their orchards a source of pleasure and 
profit. A little intelligent care will enable them to do so. 

It is the tendency of large farmers everywhere who 
have their minds given up to grain or dairying to over- 
look such matters as spraying their orchards, pruning, 
mulching, etc. The small land owner does better with his 
fruit. 

About sixty trees to the acre are sufficient. They 
should be purchased from the nurseries when one or two 
years old and placed in even rows on land that has been 
thoroughly fitted for the purpose. Any fair quality of 
loam will answer the requirements of an orchard, but, 
if possible, the owner should select a piece of land that 
has a clay subsoil, twelve to eighteen inches below the sur- 
face. He should avoid gravelly land, because it does not 
permit tree roots to obtain sufficient hold, and it carries 
off the water too closely. It is necessary to plow in plenty 
of barnyard fertilizer and cultivate thoroughly before 
planting. 

It is feasible to use the orchard either for gardening or 
the growing of common leguminous crops. This makes 
the land pay something while the trees are maturing, and 
is good for the soil. The rows of trees should be far 
enough apart so that a team with plow or harrow may be 
used. 

Therefore it is worth while in localities where horticul- 
ture is not flourishing to make a more thorough test of 
methods for guarding the fruit crop than has been made 
by farmers generally. Twice in ten years, in some 
regions, owners of orchards have lost apple and cherry 
crops by freezing weather late in the spring. This is one 
crop in five lost through unfavorable climatic conditions, 
and it would be discouraging but for the facts that four 
successful crops in five years make fruit highly profitable, 
and that such losses are, to a great extent, preventable. 

The practical farmer will take steps to see that his trees 



GIVE MORE ATTENTION TO FRUIT 173 

are not frosted while budding. A cheap oil heater is 
made for this work. The total expense of providing 
heaters for an orchard of ten acres would not exceed 
$300. They would not be used more than two or three 
nights in the year, and therefore the outlay for oil would 
be trifling. 

Another excellent plan that I have tried is to raise the 
temperature on a cold night with smudge fires. This 
is only necessary when a freeze sets in after the trees 
have shown their blossoms. A little ridge of dry manure 
or rubbish should be placed around the orchard, or at 
least on the windward side, with possibly a line or two 
of it through the center, in case of a sharp frost. The 
material to be burned is to be almost covered with dirt, 
in order to make a slow flame. In the evening, if it looks 
like a frosty night, start the fires and keep the tempera- 
ture up to the point of safety. This may be a sort of 
mean job for a night or two, but the result will justify 
the effort — and it is a job that may not have to be per- 
formed more than once in five years. Keep a thermome- 
ter in the orchard. 

Frost is so apt to come during the budding period, that 
farmers and orchardists have a keen appreciation of the 
danger which confronts them, and yet few have any 
definite method of guarding their interests in this par- 
ticular. Thousands of neglected and worthless orchards 
in the middle west, particularly in the lake regions, show 
that owners have become discouraged through periodical 
losses. When we consider that an acre of fruit is worth 
from $200 to $400, the trouble of keeping up a few little 
fires around the orchard for six or eight hours seems 
trifling. 

Spraying the trees in October and during the budding 
period in the spring is necessary to keep the orchard free 
of insect pests, which are ruinous if allowed to work. 
Pruning is another essential to give the trees uniformity 



174 GIVE MORE ATTENTION TO FRUIT 

and to prevent them getting too much height or develop- 
ing abnormal growths. 

In many cases it will be found that the old trees have 
exhausted practically all the available nutritive material 
contained in the soil, and they need considerable nitrogen 
in order to produce new wood and to put new vigor into 
them, and therefore they will stand lots of stable manure. 
But if they were young, bearing trees in their prime they 
would need only a light dressing of manure. 

While the actual fertilizing material contained in a ton 
of average stable manure is small, not much above 
twenty-eight pounds, if lime is not considered, it is a 
great humus producer. Humus adds lots of moisture, 
and humus and moisture working together release the 
nutritive material already in the soil and put it in shape 
so that those little hungry feed roots can gather it in and 
send it on its mission of supplying leaf, bud and branch 
with life and vigor. 

If one should want quicker and better results than just 
stable manure alone will give, phosphate rock, ground 
bone and potash may be added in the proportion of lOO 
pounds of phosphate, 200 pounds of ground bone and 100 
pounds of potash, but the user will have to be the judge 
of just how much to apply to the acre, as there are so 
many different conditions to be taken into consideration 
that the same quantity will not answer for all. 

As cultivation is needed anyway, it is well to raise 
vegetables in the orchard, thus making the land pay a 
good acreage profit even if the fruit has a bad season. 
Weeds are to be kept out of an orchard as zealously as 
out of a garden. It is also important that we practice a 
good system of shallow cultivation in young orchards. 
The trees respond to good tillage just as the corn and 
other cultivated crops do. Barn-yard manure, cowpeas 
and clover are three great fall cover crops for a young 
orchard. Trees ought to stand about thirty feet apart. 



GIVE MORE ATTENTION TO FRUIT 175 

Good drainage is important in the apple orchard as else- 
where. The apple does not like "wet feet." For that 
simple reason it succeeds more often on naturally well- 
drained rolling land than in low, soggy places. 

Just after the leaf buds in the spring and before the 
blossom buds open the old orchard should be given a 
good spraying with the regular Bordeaux mixture and 
paris green, or lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead ; another 
one just after the blossoms drop, and a third some time 
later if troubled with the coddling moth, which is almost 
sure to be the case in an old orchard. This fight against 
the coddling moth must be unrelenting. The worm is 
migratory, traveling surprising distances in its work of 
destruction. Spraying should be done in any part of the 
season when pests are seen. A spraying after the fruit 
has been gathered in the fall is recommended in orchards 
where pests are numerous. 

Constant cultivation of old orchards has taken from 
the soil mineral elements that must be supplied by arti- 
ficial means. This soil was at one time rich in vegetable 
and mineral matter, and the trees yielded an abundance 
of fine apples. Soil and climatic change is not an un- 
common occurrence, and experiments have been made to 
introduce the right trees and to improve the soil. 

The Northwest requires trees of a very rugged nature, 
and they can be adapted to the soil by experiments. We 
need more of this work by farmers and practical or- 
chardists. Too much is left to the experiment stations, 
the nurserymen, and to scientists. Every orchardist 
should have his own stock, and each season some test 
should be made of new varieties, selecting of course, those 
most naturally adapted to his locality. 

To be successful in fruit growing more attention must 
be given to secure fruit of high quality. If only first- 
class fruit be offered for sale the demand for it will be 
enormously increased. 



Care and Skill in the Orchard 

If the new order of farming contemplates a larger and 
more general production of fruit, people must learn how 
to care for their orchards. There is no profit in neglected 
trees, but there are returns of $200 to $400 an acre from 
fruit where a good system of pruning, spraying and culti- 
vation is followed. 

The fruit crop depends largely upon the efficiency with 
which the pruning is done in the fall. The uniform dis- 
tribution of branches, height of branches, height of trees 
and the health in general of all parts of them left for 
bearing fruit — all have their influence. Branches should 
not be left so long and slender that they will not support 
a goodly burden of fruit. 

As a rule, all water sprouts, those straight shoots run- 
ning directly up from the main branches, should be re- 
moved. Limbs that are seen to be partly dead or decayed 
should be cut back until one is sure no part of them is 
left, as it would but invite further decay, and the sus- 
tenance drawn by them would be a useless drain on the 
vitality of the trees. 

All tall, thick or topheavy trees demand close and care- 
ful pruning. Fruits which are reared high in mid air are 
not as exempt from the action of the wind as if they 
were lower down. The top of the high tree itself is apt 
to be caught in the wind and damaged, perhaps ruined 
by being broken down. 

The low down, uniformly pruned tree also will produce 
more fruit, and of a quality superior to that of the tall 
tree, while the ease with which the fruit is picked from 

176 



CARE AND SKILL IN THE ORCHARD 177 

the low trees recommends them. After all rotten apples, 
pruned limbs and other refuse have been cleared up about 
the orchard, the tree should be given a thorough spraying. 

If possible, one should choose a v^^arm day for this 
operation, so most of the insect pests crawling out to lie 
in the sunlight will be exposed to the action of the spray- 
ing solution. Special attention should be given old knots 
and rough spots about the trees, as in these places the 
fruit pests deposit their eggs for next season's crop and at 
the same time many of these pests themselves are har- 
boring safe retreat till winter is over. 

There are several reasons for this fall spraying. It not 
only destroys the insect pests, but their eggs, also, which 
have been laid. After the spraying, the trees will be left 
healthy and clean and free from the pests, while they are 
developing their next season's crop. 

Fall is the best time in which to fertilize the orchard, as 
a goodly portion of the fertility elements will have pene- 
trated down to the root of trees before the ground freezes 
up and the w^ork of rejuvenation will have been well be- 
gun when the spring opens. 

Where the orchard is young it will, of course, have to 
be plowed after giving it a good coat of manure, straw, 
cornstalks, etc. This is much more productive of good 
results the following season than where the orchard is 
fertilized during the spring. 

With the exception of raspberries, which should be at- 
tended to early in the spring, all the small fruit bushes 
should be pruned, sprayed and fertilized during the late 
fall months. This will include gooseberries, currants, 
blackberries, grape vines, etc. 

All fruit bushes or orchard trees which are where rab- 
bits can reach them should be wrapped in thick paper, 
gunny sacks, cornstalks, screen wire or the regular tree 
protector, made of veneer, this protection extending 
twenty-four inches from the ground. 



178 CARE AND SKILL IN THE ORCHARD 

The pear orchard should be cultivated every year, be- 
cause it is unsafe to apply the large amount of stable 
manure to pear trees when in grass that is needed to keep 
them thrifty. We can keep an apple orchard in grass and 
top dress it heavily enough to offset this drain on the 
soil. 

In liming the soil of an apple orchard it should be ap- 
plied at the rate of about one ton per acre at one time, 
which need not be repeated oftener than once in three or 
four years. It should be definitely known that the soil 
needs liming before taking any steps to do it. No great 
quantity should be put near the trees but the whole of the 
soil evenly supplied, which would give a very small por- 
tion about each newly set tree. 

Hardwood ashes are good for trees of all kinds but 
they contain no nitrogen and in case they are applied, 
something that contains this element should be added. 
Nitrate of soda contains it but some kind of coarse 
manure is better, because there is humus, which loosens 
the soil as well as furnishes nitrogen. If a mixed fer- 
tilizer is used it should be made of about 500 pounds acid 
phosphate rock, 200 pounds muriate of potash and 100 
pounds nitrate of soda for each acre. It may be applied 
with benefit at any time of year, but about April or May 
it will be quickly available and be taken up by the tree 
roots during the growing season. 



Common Fruits Return Liberal Profits 

Profits in common fruit are easily five times as much as 
in grain farming. Farmers often fail, however, with ap- 
ples, cherries, plums and the like because they treat them 
as a side issue and give no real work or intelligent at- 
tention to their orchards. 

Every farmer should have from two to twenty acres of 
fruit and the trees should be cared for systematically. 
If this is done the profit will amount to $200 an acre or 
more, three seasons out of four. 

Plums will grow on any land suitable for the produc- 
tion of ordinary farm crops. It should be sloping or have 
good drainage. The Japanese sorts do best on light soils. 
Many are self-sterile, therefore varieties should be 
planted intermixed. Set the trees close, say eighteen feet 
apart. They do best under tillage and will be good for 
twenty years or so. They need more water than many 
other kinds of fruit. Feed the trees and thin the fruit; 
also cut out black knot. Spray with lime-sulphur solu- 
tion and arsenate for most troubles. The best plums for 
commercial planting are obtainable from all reliable 
dealers. 

The German prune is subject to black knot, but this can 
be fairly well controlled by cutting out. Italian and 
German prunes are best of all for cooking. They ship 
well and will long remain standard commercial plums. 

In Europe the plum takes the first place among fruits ; 
here it is considered comparatively unimportant; and its 
culture is confined within narrow limits. It can be made 
very profitable. 

179 



180 FRUITS RETURN LIBERAL PROFITS 

The cherry is easily grown. It is attacked by few in- 
sects. Rabbits seldom molest cherry trees. In preparing 
the soil, I advise heavy manuring, deep plowing, with 
thorough cultivation the year before planting. Use two- 
year-old trees, well branched, and plant i8 feet apart, giv- 
ing thorough cultivation for three years. 

After that, seed to clover and when your orchard comes 
into bearing, mow all grass and weeds a couple of times 
during the season. Leave the grass on the ground to 
form a mulch. It will have a tendency to hold moisture, 
and also helps to keep the ground loose. The less a 
cherry orchard is plowed after it comes into bearing 
the better, as the feeding roots are very near the surface. 
Roots broken off are not quickly replaced, as the cherry 
is one of the most backward of fruit trees in putting out 
new growth where old growth has been broken off. 

Cherries can be grown wherever the apple succeeds — 
north, east, south or west. There is no fear of over- 
production, as canning houses stand ready to contract the 
crop ahead at good prices, while private customers may 
be secured by all growers who live near a city. 

Apples surpass other fruits in money-making, because 
they are hardier and allow a longer time for handling. 
An orchardist ought to consider apples the foundation of 
his enterprise, but he should not neglect pears, plums, 
cherries and berries. 

Spring planting is to be recommended in preference 
to fall planting. Get the trees out just as soon as the 
frosts seem to be at an end, placing them thirty feet apart 
each way. This leaves a great deal of land that may be 
used for raising vegetables and flowers. This constant 
cultivation is good for fruit trees, which should have 
mulching placed around them late in the summer. 

The trees should be mulched with straw, grass or 
leafage of some description. This mulching should not 
be crowded around the stem, its object being mainly to 



FRUITS RETURN LIBERAL PROFITS 181 

create moist and cool soil conditions, and to encourage 
a free root establishment. The mulch material should 
be occasionally stirred and no weed or grass growth 
should be permitted to accumulate. 

Where mulching material is not available, a frequent 
earth mulch should be given by constantly stirring the 
soil within a few feet of the trees. In addition to mulch- 
ing it will be beneficial to spray young trees with water, 
particularly on hot or windy days. 

Many of our orchard soils are rich chemically in nitro- 
gen, phosphorus and potassium, but oftentimes lack 
humus. By humus we mean the completely decayed or- 
ganic matter, which can be obtained by the plowing under 
of some green manure crop, such as alfalfa, clover, vetch, 
oats, rye, cowpeas, soy beans, etc. Whatever care and 
attention are given to young trees will be amply repaid 
to the grower in after years, owing to the vigor, sturdi- 
ness, and other qualities thus imparted to them. The 
trees begin to bear about six years from planting and at 
ten years should be in full bearing. 

In regard to overproduction, it should be said that this 
is not a new question. Fifty years ago a pessimistic wail 
was going up that the apple business would soon be over- 
done, and would cease to be profitable. At that time, not 
more than one-tenth as many apples were raised for com- 
mercial purposes in the United States as are raised to- 
day. One hundred years ago apples were but little raised 
for commercial purposes; now, trainloads and shiploads 
move from the orchards to our great centers of trade, 
and across the ocean to England and other parts of 
Europe. Asia is calling for our apples. Australia is' 
taking thousands of boxes of our best fruit, and is calling 
for more. Our highest grade apples cannot be duplicated 
on the face of the earth, so we have the world for a 
market for our best fruit. 

Northwestern orchardists receive fancy prices for their 



182 FRUITS RETURN LIBERAL PROFITS 

fruit, not that it is any better than that produced in other 
sections, but because they are not afraid to spend money 
hberally to grade, pack and advertise properly, the prod- 
uct of their orchards. 

Senator H. M. Dunlap, of Illinois, tells how he man- 
aged several large orchards. He found the best manner 
of cultivation was with the orchard disc and harrow. 
With these tools he pulverizes the ground thoroughly. 
He has a 3-ton truck, run by gasoline motor, for hauling 
the apples to market, and he uses this power to run a 
double disc harrow, it is quicker and better than horse 
power for the purpose. Manure and the legumes are his 
fertilizers. Work and spray, is his motto. Thorough 
spraying gives the most perfect fruit. It is the essential 
thing in controlling insect pests and fungus growth. He 
uses smudge pots when frost is liable to damage the young 
fruit in the spring. 

Fruits, either fresh or preserved, must not be counted 
as a luxury, but rather as a necessity, and indeed in these 
days more and more people are coming to recognize their 
food value. Available statistics show that fruits consti- 
tute a by no means unimportant part of the diet of the 
American people. They supply to us nearly five per cent 
of the total food and about four per cent of the total 
carbohydrates of the food supply of the average family 
of this country. It has been amply demonstrated that a 
fruit and nut diet will maintain health and strength of an 
individual indefinitely. 



Fruit Raising Suited to Amateurs 

An amateur who is about to take a farm can not do bet- 
ter than to estabHsh an orchard. Market advantages in a 
thickly settled state are too important to be disregarded. 
The keen demand for all kinds of fruit, not only in cities, 
but in every small town, insures large profits. 

It would be wise to devote at least one acre in ten to 
fruit. Thus on a farm of fifty acres there ought to be 
a five-acre orchard. It is best to proceed with modera- 
tion, for one needs practical experience. The proportion 
of fruit may be increased as the owner acquires skill. It 
is equally wise for the established farmer to give some 
attention to horticulture. 

Cherries, apples and pears are among the hardiest of 
the fruit crops and yield large returns. Late varieties 
are safest in the north, as losses frequently result from 
frost after trees have blossomed. Some varieties bud two 
weeks later than others. 

The temperature can be controlled by artificial means. 
The cost of heating per night depends on several condi- 
tions. The cheapest and most reliable fuel is crude oil. 
I have investigated several methods and have found that 
the cost of running lOO burners one night is between 
$2 and $3. At wholesale rates the heaters cost about 32 
cents each. They will last for several years. I know of 
one fruit crop worth $400 per acre which was saved at a 
cost of $3 per acre. 

To be on the safe side, watch the temperature and start 
the heater when it goes down to 32 degrees. This would 
not happen more than once or twice in a season. Smudge 

183 



184 FRUIT RAISING SUITED TO AMATEURS 

fires also may be used with good effect around fruit trees 
on a frosty night and cost nothing but a Httle work and 
watchfulness. 

Of the sour cherries Montmorency is about ten days 
later than Richmond, and the fruit is larger. Other good 
sorts are English Morello, very dark colored, and Late 
Duke, a good late variety. Slikeman and Downer's Late 
Red are both worth consideration on account of their 
lateness; the former is the latest cherry we have; both 
are of good quality. 

Of the early sweet cherries, the black varieties are the 
highest flavored, and as a table fruit they excel. Black 
Tartarian is one of the best; Schmidt's Bigarreau is 
another good sort; Mercer is a good dark red cherry; 
Rockport Bigarreau and Governor Wood are both light 
red varieties, with little to choose between them. Coe's 
Transparent is a large light red; handsome, very meaty, 
but not quite so luscious as some of the others. 

There is no more prolific tree than the plum, and the 
fruit can be used for many purposes other than as a table 
fruit. The trees are strong growers and outside of serv- 
ing as a prey for the San Jose scale, a condition easily re- 
lieved by spraying, the trees give no trouble after planting. 
And moreover, you don't plant only for your children ; as 
the trees bear in three to four years. It is peculiar that 
the Japanese varieties seem to do better than our own and 
the European varieties. 

In late pears Buerre d'Anjou should be one selection. It 
is not what might be called a pretty pear, but when ripe, 
is excellent for the table, having a distinct flavor ; the tree 
is a good bearer, and the pears are extra large. Sheldon 
ranks high as a table pear ; the fruit is of fair size, brown- 
ish, of good shape and flavor. Duchess d'Angouleme is 
a good all-around late pear. Lawrence is the best late 
pear ; it will keep well into the winter ; it is a good cropper 
and the fruit is of a fine quality. 



FRUIT RAISING SUITED TO AMATEURS 185 

In late varieties of apples the Baldwin ranks high in 
several essentials. It produces large crops and is a good 
keeper. Ben Davis, another good keeper, is the prettiest 
apple we have, according to many judges, and the quality 
is fairly good on a light soil. Newton Pippin still holds 
the lead, as a high quality late keeper, but Rhode Island 
greening is the best keeping green apple to date. Rox- 
bury Rust is the best russet apple, and keeps late. 
Twenty Ounce is one of the extra large apples which is 
not lacking in quality. 

Yellow Transparent is classified as an excellent apple 
in Cincinnati, and by some of the dealers in Indianapolis 
and Louisville it is regarded as very good. 

Duchess is regarded as excellent in Buffalo, Chicago, 
Louisville, Pittsburg, Columbus, Indianapolis, Philadel- 
phia, Toledo and St. Paul. 

Wealthy is generally a good apple in reputation. The 
only market classifying it as poor or fair is Mobile. 

Alexander is generally fairly well spoken of ; it is re- 
garded as poor by part of the trade in Boston and as a 
fair apple by part of the trade in Buffalo, IndianapoHs, 
Kansas City, Louisville, Memphis, New Orleans, Nor- 
folk, Richmond and St. Louis. 

Maiden Blush is an apple with a good reputation ; it is 
excellent in Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, 
Louisville, New Orleans, Pittsburg, and sells well in other 
markets. 

Pound Sweet is ranked as excellent by some dealers in 
Boston, Buffalo, Chicago and Detroit. 

Tolman Sweet is ranked as excellent in Boston and De- 
troit and as good by part of the trade in other cities. 

Holland Pippin is regarded as very good by Columbus, 
New York, Philadelphia and Toledo. 

York Pippin is regarded as good by Columbus, Mem- 
phis, New York, Philadelphia and Toledo. 

Snow is a poor apple to send to Kansas City, Louis- 



186 FRUIT RAISING SUITED TO AMATEURS 

ville, Memphis, Mobile, New Orleans and Norfolk. In 
fact, it is not appreciated in southern markets ; it appears 
to be in highest esteem in Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cin- 
cinnati, Detroit and New York. 

Apples are not a tender fruit and may freeze slightly, 
though they should not be allowed to freeze hard. Gather 
apples in the first cool days of fall, though it is some- 
times necessary to gather a little earlier if they are falling 
badly. 

It will be much better to gather a little early and let 
them lie in the pens than to remain on the trees when 
they have started to fall. When they are gathered, put 
in rail pens and cover with boards, and if there are warm 
days they should be in the shade. 

When the weather becomes so cold that they are likely 
to freeze even when protected with straw, it is time to 
store them for the winter, although a great many apples 
are lost by storing them too soon. 

There is no doubt about pits being superior to a cellar 
for apple storage. Select a well drained spot, and scoop 
out a depression not over a foot deep, put straw in the 
bottom of this pile, then the apples in a conical heap, 
cover with more straw or hay, then with dirt. They will 
keep plump and tender this way when they would shrivel 
in a cellar, though a few for immediate use should be 
stored in the cellar, on the floor. 



Small Fruits Pay Well 

Land owners who think they haven't time to attend to 
small fruit ought to make a comparison of profits. It is 
as easy to raise berries as wheat, oats or corn, and these 
fruits return a clean profit five times greater than that 
from grain. 

The strawberry should be widely cultivated by farm- 
ers, who with plenty of land and dressing seem to have 
no excuse for not having their tables well supplied with 
this appetizing berry, besides earning $200 to $300 an 
acre on such ground as they devote to the product. There 
are similar profits in other small fruits. 

If the soil is not already fertile, it can be made so by 
the addition of stable manure or commercial fertilizers. 
To avoid grubs, sod ground should not be used, and to 
avoid weeds, a hoed crop should precede the strawberries. 
Cow peas or soy beans make a good preparatory crop. 

Fall plowing is desirable, the soil being loosened up 
in the spring with a cultivator or harrow. Under special 
conditions strawberries may be set in the fall, but for 
the amateur grower spring setting is to be recommended. 

The single hedge system may be adopted if desired, 
and rows may be made three feet apart, and the plants 
set twelve to sixteen inches apart in the rows. Under 
this system the grower will permit the maturing of two 
runner plants from the mother or original plant set, and 
these plants will be layered in line with the mother plant 
in the row. 

This will give the grower three plants for fruiting in 
the season following instead of one plant, and as there 

187 



188 SMALL FRUITS PAY WELL 

will be ample room for sunshine and air, there probably 
will be an actual increase in the quantity of fruit as com- 
pared with the hill system, although it is claimed that 
the hill system is the one which will yield the greatest 
number of large berries. 

Currant and gooseberry bushes, red and black rasp- 
berry plants and grape vines, can be planted successfully 
any time in the fall before winter sets in, but I always 
recommend spring planting. 

The most important thing connected with gooseberry 
culture is judicious pruning. This work, which cannot 
be neglected, is done from late autumn to early winter. 
Many of the vigorous-growing shoots and branches are 
annually removed, and only a moderate supply of young 
growing wood is left. The bush is made to assume a 
cup-shaped top, with slightly drooping branches. The 
cultivation and manuring are like that for the currant. 

In the cultivation of raspberries keep the canes pinched 
off as they reach a height of four feet. This is easily 
done, and makes them grow outside shoots on which ber- 
ries will grow the next spring. Cut out all the canes of 
raspberries which bear fruit as soon as the crop is 
gathered. These canes are useless for further bearing. 

The raspberry is a prolific bearer. The first year it 
makes canes, and the second year fruit. Private cus- 
tomers can be secured for the fruit, or it may be sold to 
grocers. 

The currant can be grown to great perfection north 
or south, and large yields can be obtained. The hilling 
of the bushes should be avoided, and level and shallow 
culture practiced. 

Gooseberries require an open, airy situation, and clean 
culture. The tops must be kept well thinned out to in- 
sure good fruit. They should be dressed with well-com- 
posted manure, and no weeds should be allowed to grow 



SMALL FRUITS PAY WELL 189 

in the rows. These precautions are necessary to ward off 
mildew. 

No other fruit can take the place of grapes during 
their season. They afford an abundant supply of de- 
licious and strengthening food for nearly five months 
during the year. We should grow grapes and eat freely 
of them. 

Blackberries come late in the summer and furnish 
excellent fruit for canning, preserving and making de- 
licious pies. There is a good market demand for them. 

Late in the fall secure roots of the right variety ; place 
them where they will be protected from the freezing 
weather, or they may be taken up in the spring, but not 
allowed to dry out. Prepare the ground as for potatoes, 
and every third row rake for the berry rows, planting 
the other two rows with potatoes. Cut the roots into 
pieces three inches long and plant them one foot apart 
in the row. Cover level with the ground. 

When the canes appear destroy all but one in the hill, 
which may be done by cutting with a knife or sickle. 
In this way a stalky cane with plenty of laterals will be 
obtained. Cut back these laterals to secure a bush form. 

The red raspberry differs greatly in character from the 
black cap raspberry. While the black cap is propagated 
from tips, the ends of the canes when buried taking root 
and forming the new plant, the red raspberry propa- 
gates from suckers that spring up from the roots of the 
parent plant. With some varieties, especially the Cuth- 
bert, these suckers are thrown up so freely as to interfere 
with the productiveness of the parent plants, making it 
necessary for the plantation to be renewed after it has 
borne fruit two or three years. Other varieties, like 
the Loudon and Syracuse, are less inclined to send out 
sucker plants and therefore remain in fruit much longer 
than the Cuthbert. But any variety may be kept in fruit 



190 SMALL FRUITS PAY WELL 

for many years if the young suckers, when they first 
appear are clipped off with a hoe, the same as weeds, but 
this work must be done each week. 

The average red raspberry is not quite so hardy as the 
black cap raspberry, but the Culbert, Marlboro, Ruby, 
Herbert and Syracuse have proved fairly hardy. 

The fruiting canes of the red raspberry are not so wide 
spreading and thorny as the black cap, therefore, it is not 
necessary to plant the red raspberry quite so far apart 
as the black cap, but it is well to give all small fruits 
plenty of room. In most instances raspberries, black- 
berries and currants are planted too closely in the row 
and between the rows. I favor planting the red rasp- 
berry 4 feet apart between the rows and 3^/2 feet in the 
rows, so that the plant may be cultivated both ways. 

The young canes are usually cropped off to about 3^ 
feet at the time they appear above the old bushes. The 
old canes are removed immediately after the fruit is 
harvested, by means of sharp hooks with long handles, 
and pulled into the alleys, and later removed with horse 
and rake, the rake being made for that purpose. Some- 
times, if a plantation gets grassy and weedy while the 
fruit is being picked, we give it a thorough cultivating 
after the old canes are removed, and sometimes even plow 
the ground lightly between the rows, following the drain- 
age slope and always throwing the furrow up to the 
bushes. 

The cultivation and growing of red raspberries afford 
a pleasant and profitable occupation. While the pro- 
duction of profitable crops seems more difiicult than in 
former years, the higher prices paid more than repay our 
additional efforts, while the demand for this variety of 
fruit is steadily increasing. 

The Cuthbert can be grown on any soil, but a deep, 
moist, sandy loam will produce the best crops. An abun- 
dance of moisture is absolutely necessary in the produc- 



SMALL FRUITS PAY WELL 191 

tion of a good crop. Thorough but shallow cultivation 
is essential, and will aid immensely in conserving mois- 
ture, and prevent loss by evaporation during dry weather. 
Use plenty of well-rotted manure, spread around the 
bushes in winter if possible. This will invigorate the 
bush, insuring larger and better fruit the next season, and 
will aid in the production of strong young plants for 
future crops. 

I would like to say a word about the treatment of 
anthracnose. It is a disease that can be overcome. We 
are liable to have years when anthracnose is severe, and 
then again it disappears. This plan of treatment strikes 
me as the most favorable, and I think will be found suc- 
cessful in general practice: When you lift the canes in 
the spring of the year treat with bordeaux mixture; 
make it double strength, and cover the canes with it soon 
after they are lifted. When the young growth appears 
and is about eight inches high, spray again, but use the 
mixture weak, just half the strength you did before. 
The theory is this: The spores are thrown off by the 
canes early in the spring from these infected spots, and 
when they are covered by a thick bordeaux mixture it 
prevents these spores being thrown off. You cannot 
prevent injury to the old canes, but you can prevent in- 
jury to the young canes, and if you spray you can make 
the young canes grow well the first season without any 
serious damage — but spray the second time when the 
young canes are about eight inches high. 

Currant and gooseberry bushes are often injured by 
the borer. The egg is laid about June ist. When hatched, 
the young borer works its way into the cane, and remains 
until the following spring, eating out the pith and caus- 
ing death of cane. As soon as the leaves start, the af- 
fected parts are easily discovered, and should be cut out 
and burned. 



Have Early and Late Strawberries 

Great strides forward have been made in strawberry 
culture. It is not only possible to grow a profitable crop 
within twelve months from the date of setting out plants, 
but there are notable achievements with what is known 
as the ever-bearing variety. 

Successful experiments are being made in extending 
the strawberry season so that this fruit may be picked 
both earlier and later than heretofore. The principal 
point gained is in getting more time for marketing a 
perishable commodity. Profits alr'eady are high, but they 
will be increased. 

While the ever-bearing variety will produce fruit at 
the same season as the ordinary strawberries and keep on 
bearing until frost, to get the best results, the blossoms 
should be kept pinched off until August i, so as to con- 
serve the energies of the plant for the fall crop. 

By planting in the latter part of April, a good crop will 
be obtained the same year and every year. Picking will 
begin about the middle of August and continue right 
along until winter sets in. The blossoms must be pinched 
off until the supplies of common varieties are pretty well 
exhausted, and the market demand for fresh stock begins 
to get keen. 

One grower, by that method, gathered nearly 400 
quarts from 500 plants set out in the spring. The quality 
was superb and the size good, but not up to the large 
June berries, because of the season at which they were 
borne. 

The autumn strawberry is going to give us more money 

192 



HAVE EARLY AND LATE STRAWBERRIES 193 

to the acre because late prices will be highest, and this 
new variety of berry is both hardy and prolific. 

Those who have tested autumn strawberry culture have 
been able to market the most delicious fruit up to the 
middle of November in northern regions. These late 
grown berries are readily taken at 20 to 30 cents a quart, 
and evidently it will require years to create an oversup- 
ply. Ordinary frosts have little effect on them. 

All large plant and seed houses are ready to furnish 
this new strawberry, a fruit which is likely to create 
something of a furore. 

While the autumn strawberries will blossom and yield 
fruit from June till November, the best results are gained 
for the producer by raising common stock for early trade 
and reserving the new product for fall business. It will 
be found that the late berries command a price about twice 
as high as that paid for early ones, as the market becomes 
glutted in June and July. 

These autumn strawberries are known to the trade as 
the ever-bearing variety. They yield fruit as early as any 
other kind, but the point to be kept in mind is that by 
holding back the berries of the new variety a heavy yield 
is insured for the latter part of the season when the com- 
mon kinds do not yield. The method of pinching off 
blossoms to retard fruit bearing is quite simple. 

Another valuable peculiarity of the new strawberry 
is that its first fall crop, grown the same season that the 
plants are set out, will be one of the heaviest it will ever 
produce. Common strawberries to be a success must be 
retarded until the second year. The second year's crop of 
the ever-bearing variety is apt to be as satisfactory as the 
first, provided cultivation and winter mulching have not 
been neglected. Each season adds new plants, so that the 
stock can be kept in a vigorous state. After two or three 
seasons it may be best to discard old plants. 

In getting ready for the new or the common variety it 



194 HAVE EARLY AND LATE STRAWBERRIES 

is advisable to take a piece of land that has borne some 
such crop as clover, cowpeas or turnips and which has 
had a lot of well-rotted manure plowed in. A bit of land 
that has had rather more than ordinary cultivation is best 
of all. A gentle slope is desirable, or the land may become 
soggy at a time when the young plants need warm, loose 
soil. Drained land usually answers the purpose well. Fall 
plowing is recommended. Then in the spring, before 
planting, the soil should be stirred up with a disc or har- 
row, after which a roller ought to be used. 

Occasionally a successful grower is found who sets 
out strawberry plants late in the summer in order to get 
fruit the next season, but spring planting is preferable. 
Plant as early as the soil can be worked or as soon as 
the danger from frost is over. Rows should be three 
feet apart to permit the use of a horse cultivator, and 
plants are to be twelve to sixteen inches apart in the rows. 

Commence cultivation as soon as the ground is dry 
enough and let it be thorough, once every week during the 
summer. As the row begins to widen the farmer should 
each time narrow down the cultivated space between the 
rows, and after the row has attained the proper width con- 
tinue to cultivate to prevent plants forming in the center 
of the rows. 

Do not let the fields become matted, but maintain an 
open center between the rows. Matting may be allowed 
in the rows, as this is a natural growth for the straw- 
berry. Better results are obtained by growing in matted 
rows than under any other method. 

The plants must not be allowed to suffer for water in 
the fruiting season and a mulch will be found to be of 
great advantage. High cultivation is essential for the 
best results in all crops, and in growing these straw- 
berries a little extra trouble will pay well. 

Pot-grown strawberries are superior to the ordinary 
ground layers usually sold, as there is no loss of fine 



HAVE EARLY AND LATE STRAWBERRIES 195 

roots in taking them up and they can be shipped safely 
to distant parts and be transplanted at any season, and it 
scarcely checks their growth. 

After the late crop is off, about the middle of Novem- 
ber cover the bed to a depth of three inches with hay, 
straw or leaves. In April, as soon as the plants show an 
indication of growth, push the covering away so that 
the plants may come up through. This "mulching" pro- 
tects the plants from cold in winter and the heat in sum- 
mer, keeps the fruit clean and prevents the growth of 
weeds. 

For illustration of what the late-bearing strawberry 
will do the following statement of an eastern expert is 
quoted : 

*Tn the spring of 1910 I purchased 250 plants each 
of Americus and Francis, and set them in carefully pre- 
pared rich ground about May first. They were set in 
rows 3J/2 feet apart, with the plants one foot apart in 
the row. They occupied just about one twenty-fifth of 
an acre. 

"They were given good care, well fertilized and hoed, 
and the weeds carefully kept out. The blossoms were 
kept pinched off until about August i, and on August 2^ 
we picked four quarts, and they continued to yield berries 
until November 11, when the last three quarts were 
gathered. 

"During the week of September 12th to the 17th we 
picked nearly 100 quarts, which were shown at the State 
Fair in Syracuse, N. Y. The largest single picking was 
48 quarts, gathered September 29." 



Commercial Handling of Strawberries 

There are few products that equal the strawberry for 
profit. It is a sure crop and gives quick returns. The 
yield is nearly always upwards of $200 an acre and it 
may run to double this figure. 

The best time to set a strawberry bed is the early 
spring, as soon as the land is in good condition and the 
plants can be obtained. There is more moisture as a rule 
at that time, and this, combined with the cool weather 
of spring gives better growing conditions than fall plant- 
ing. Plants may also be set in the fall, if extra attention 
and care are given them. 

Strawberries require a rich soil, hence it is well to 
thoroughly manure the land that is to be used for the 
crop in the fall, and plow under from four to six inches 
deep. In the spring, disc, drag and smooth thoroughly. 
This gives a loose soil in which to set the plants, and 
a firm sub-soil to hold the moisture, and yet open enough 
to let the roots through. 

Any land that will grow a good crop of corn will grow 
strawberries. Sod land should never be used, as it is 
likely to contain grubs and cut-worms, which will eat 
off the roots of newly set plants. 

Plants having a small crown and a large number of 
white fibrous roots, are best for planting. It is not a 
good plan to use plants that have borne fruit, as they 
are weaker. The best plants are obtained from planta- 
tions that have not been allowed to fruit. Their roots 
are white, while the roots of the old plants are brown. 

Before planting, all dead leaves should be removed. 

196 



COMMERCIAL HANDLING OF STRAWBERRIES 197 

The roots should be pruned back to about 3 or 4 inches. 
All flowers should be kept off the plants the first season, 
as this provides a stronger growth. It is best to get 
the plants from a nurseryman or strawberry specialist, 
as they are not as likely to be mixed as when obtained 
from a neighbor. 

The method of planting in common farm use is the 
matted row system. When the land is in good condi- 
tion to work, harrow smooth, and mark out rows three 
feet apart and as long as possible. Then set the plants 
at 18-inch intervals in the rows, and cultivate often 
enough to keep the weeds out and the soil loose until Sep- 
tember. If the plants are then vigorous growers, the run- 
ners should be about 6 inches apart. It is desirable to 
train the runners the long way of the rows, cutting out 
plants that crowd. 

An ordinary planting trowel or spade is used to set 
the plants. A spade is an easy implement to open the 
ground with. Strike it into the ground and work it back 
and forth, draw out the spade, spread the roots of the 
plant and set it so the crown comes just to the surface 
of the ground. Firm the soil well about the roots of the 
plant. This method requires a man to handle the spade 
and a boy to set the plants. 

As soon as possible after setting the plants, cultivation 
should commence and it should continue at frequent in- 
tervals till fall. Keep the weeds down and the top soil 
loose. If the runners get too thick, cut out part of them, 
leaving about 6 inches between them. Runners may be 
encouraged to root by putting an inch or two of soil 
over each one, near the end. 

It requires about 7,000 strawberry plants for an acre, 
and these will bear 25 to 50 bushels the first season if 
allowed to do so. The custom is to pinch off all blossoms 
the first year. A crop of 100 to 200 bushels may be ex- 
pected the second summer. Clean straw or grass makes 



198 COMMERCIAL HANDLING OF STRAWBERRIES 

the best winter mulch. The rows are covered 2 to 4 
inches deep. This winter mulch should be raked from 
the plants and left between the rows as a protection to 
the fruits and a safeguard against drouth in the fruit- 
ing season. 

Winter killing of the strawberry appears to be more 
often due to alternate freezing and thawing, together 
with the consequent drying out of the surface soil, than 
to the low temperature itself. Thus in beds where severe 
winter injury has occurred, the roots are often found 
to be killed for a short distance below the crown, while 
farther down they are alive. In such cases the plants 
frequently start into growth in spring, but die down in a 
short time. 

The strawberry plant, as well as the bramble plants, 
can and do endure drouth and ask little aid from man 
in their season of barrenness, but during the very brief 
period when their fruits approach and reach maturity 
they demand more ready moisture than slow maturing 
field crops. For this reason the fruit grower is at a dis- 
advantage. 

Crops that demand highly intensive culture and make 
high returns for the area planted may render irrigation 
an economical measure. For example, the new fall-bear- 
ing strawberry is generally the victim of the fairly regu- 
lar heat and drouth of August and September. A method 
of irrigation that would provide it with a full supply of 
water might with reasonable assurance be counted on to 
insure an annual crop. This granted, other conditions 
afifecting success would have consideration. 

The center of the most important strawberry industry 
of New York State is at Oswego. The leading natural 
advantage of this region for the commercial production 
of strawberries is the lateness at which the crop matures. 
When the berry season of New Jersey and southern New 
York is past, the Oswego berries are in their prime. 



COMMERCIAL HANDLING OF STRAWBERRIES 199 

Lateness is still further emphasized in the selection of 
late varieties, as Atlantic, Parker Earle and Gandy. The 
season opens about June 20 and continues for three 
weeks. 

The question is often asked. What does it cost to grow 
an acre of strawberries ? Growers in the Oswego region 
have given figures of actual cost as follows: Rent of 
land two years, $11 ; plowing and fitting, $6; plants, $15 ; 
setting plants, $4; cultivation, $16; straw for winter and 
fruiting mulch, $15; labor, hoeing, pulling weeds, etc., 
$10. Total cost, %y7. 

Many growers raise berries at much less cost, and a 
few exceed this sum, especially when located near a large 
town, where rents are high ; but it would be safe for one 
about to engage in strawberry growing to figure close 
to this total, aside from the cost of fertilizer. 



Thorough Cultivation Makes Gardening Pay 

Whether gardening is conducted for profit or merely 
for exercise and pleasure, one needs to do the right thing 
at the right time. It may be taken for granted that a 
majority of those who take up the work desire both profit 
and pleasure. 

A common source of failure is sourness of the soil, 
which is found in places almost wholly shaded during the 
months which intervene between the growing seasons 
and which also lack a free circulation of air. Wood ashes 
and slaked lime are good for this and also are a most ex- 
cellent fertilizer. A peck of ashes well mixed with a 
wagon load of soil is the gardener's rule, but for small 
beds, spade the ground deeply and after breaking up the 
lumps and raking thoroughly, scatter ashes or lime evenly 
over the surface until it is as white as after a light snow- 
fall ; then rake in well. This should be done before plant- 
ing time, or as soon as the ground can be worked. It is 
best to have the plowing done in the fall. 

Success in the vegetable garden depends largely upon 
thorough and frequent tillage. The tillage should be- 
gin as soon as the plants can be seen, and should be re- 
peated at intervals of about one week throughout the sea- 
son. Much labor will be saved by substituting a wheel 
hoe for the hand hoe for stirring the soil close about the 
plants, while they are small and by using a horse for culti- 
vating between the rows wherever there is sufficient 
space. If these methods are employed, the most irksome 
features of vegetable gardening — the weeding and 
tedious hand tillage — will be eliminated. 

200 



THOROUGH CULTIVATION 201 

As soon as the heavy frosts are over and the ground is 
tillable we may plant onions, lettuce, spinach, radishes, 
beets, parsnips, carrots, parsley and peas. The normal 
season for planting these crops is when the farmer is 
sowing his oats. 

The warm season crops are subject to injury by frost 
and can not safely be planted until the weather is com- 
paratively warm. The different crops in this group, how- 
ever, differ in respect to the intensity of heat they re- 
quire. Thus, sweet corn and string beans are usually 
planted early in May; lima beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, 
melons and squashes are planted from one to two weeks 
later, while sweet potatoes and egg plants should be kept 
in the hot-bed until the last of May or the first week in 
June. 

Lettuce can be grown successfully on poor soil, but 
only through the early spring and the late fall, as the 
ground becomes so hot that it will burn in the head, and 
then it is ruined for market. On rich land there is always 
a certain amount of moisture that remains in the soil, and 
then the evening dews help to keep the ground cool. Keep 
the land free from weeds. The more frequent the culti- 
vation the larger the yield. 

Where garden peas and beans are grown, earliness and 
tenderness are greatly desired, as well as flavor. These 
qualities will be found where a good supply of nitrogen 
and phosphoric plant food are available. A suitable fer- 
tilizer for these crops is 600 pounds per acre carrying 4 
per cent nitrogen, 8 per cent phosphoric acid and 10 per 
cent potash. 

Tomatoes, corn and potatoes enjoy a medium long sea- 
son of growth, therefore it is necessary that they have a 
sufficient supply of the correct food elements to satisfy 
their requirements throughout their growing season. The 
market demands a smoothly formed, solid, well-colored 
tomato, and juicy yet well-filled corn. 



202 THOROUGH CULTIVATION 

Potato growers of the famous Aroostook district of 
Maine, practice a three-year rotation of corn, clover and 
potatoes. By this means it is evident that the organic 
matter of the soil is maintained. When the potatoes are 
planted it is the custom to apply as high as 1,500 to 2,000 
pounds per acre of a fertilizer analyzing 4 per cent nitro- 
gen, 6 per cent phosphoric acid and 10 per cent potash. 

Cabbage is an excellent crop for profits and for soil 
preservation. The large drum-head type is used for the 
early family trade and for making sauerkraut. It usually 
produces a heavier tonnage per acre than the Holland or 
Danish ball type, but sells at a lower price. 

The Holland variety produces a head nearly round, and 
very hard. It is used for winter storage, and is in de- 
mand late in the fall. The later it can be stored, the less 
loss for the buyer, so this should be grown for late de- 
livery. 

This may be somewhat of a guide as to what type to 
grow. In either case see a buyer in the spring, and ar- 
range for marketing, and then, when the time for harvest 
nears, let him know about what time the crop will be 
ready and its prospective amount. The average farmer 
cannot so profitably store his cabbages as he can potatoes. 

In setting the plants for a cabbage crop, set in rows — 
both ways for easy cultivation — and be careful to get the 
rows even distance and in straight lines. 

Use a fine, spike-tooth cultivator. Cultivate as long as 
you can get through the rows. After the plants are well 
established in growth, and begin to reach out, do not 
work very deeply, as the root system of the plants com- 
pletely fills the soil. 

Put on the wide sweeps so you can reach under the 
leaves and yet not cut many roots. For the last time take 
ofif the two back shanks and use only three plate teeth. 

Plan your field so you can drive with one wheel in the 



THOROUGH CULTIVATION 203 

ditch and straddle one row of cabbages. This makes it 
easy to harvest. 

Other crops which the farmer can grow profitably in 
many sections are carrots and rutabagas. Both are ex- 
cellent stock feed, and all small or imperfect ones can be 
used on the farm, as well as any surplus. 

You should look up the prospective market in the 
spring, before planting, then use the best varieties and 
deliver only choice stock, well trimmed and honestly 
packed. 

Horseradish is commonly grown from sets and not 
from seed. Some claim they have the best success grow- 
ing it as a second crop after the early cabbage, beets, 
etc. The crop is dug in the fall, the small roots removed 
and cut into sets four to six inches long. The top end is 
cut square and the bottom slanting so as to make no mis- 
take in planting. These are tied in bundles and kept 
over winter in sand. In the spring after the cabbages are 
set out, a row of horseradish is set in between the cab- 
bage rows. Small holes are made with a light crowbar or 
long stick and the sets dropped in and covered two or 
three inches deep so that they do not come up until 
July first. Any deep, rich, well drained soil will answer 
for horseradish. 

The humble peanut was grown in this country in 1909, 
according to recent official figures, to the value of over 
18 million dollars. The area under this crop was 870,000 
acres, a third greater than in 1899, and the production 
nearly 20,000,000 bushels. The leader in acreage was 
North Carolina, followed in the order named by Georgia, 
Virginia, Florida, Alabama, Texas ; others scattered. The 
average farm value per bushel of peanuts increased from 
61 cents in 1899 to 94 cents in 1909. 



Practical Study of Gardening 

I WISH to call the attention of gardeners and farmers 
generally to the wisdom of saving the seeds of all extra 
choice home-grown products. It is the quickest way of 
securing a variety just adapted in all respects to the soil 
and climatic conditions, and one knows at planting time 
just about what to expect from his crop. Melons, espe- 
cially, vary to such a marked extent, that whenever an 
especially delicious one is cut, its seeds should be carefully 
saved, and labeled in some way to indicate their special 
merit. Squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, and any 
other vegetables which are normally picked ripe, should 
have unusually perfect specimens selected for the seed. 
Of course it does not pay to save the seed except from 
unusually good specimens, because even then, many will 
be produced inferior to the parent stock, and a few, prob- 
ably, much superior to the parent stock. Vegetables, and 
such fruits as the melons, usually come fairly true from 
seed. Other fruits are customarily budded or grafted, 
and seed selection is useless except for experimentation. 
Leave the very best of the vegetables to thoroughly ripen. 
The seeds will be worth much more during the year to 
come than the single specimen which produced them. 

Gardening is profitable to any family that has the ad- 
vantage of lands. It also may be a source of pleasure as 
well as profit. For the benefit of beginners, who may be 
unfamiliar with the quantities of seed needed to plant a 
garden of a given size, the following tabular statement 
is inserted. It represents the quantities of seeds which 
should be purchased for planting gardens suitable to the 

204 



PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 205 

needs of the ordinary country home. Any person of 
practical abihty who wishes to raise vegetables ex- 
tensively for market can enlarge the quantity of seed or 
roots to any extent : 

Farmer's Suburban 
garden. garden. 

Asparagus 100 roots 50 roots 

Beans, green podded 1 pt. /^ pt. 

Wax 1 pt. ^ pt. 

Lima 1 pt. ^ pt. 

Beets 2 oz, 1 oz. 

Cabbage, early 1 pkt. 1 pkt. 

Second early 1 pkt. 1 pkt. 

Late 1 pkt. 1 pkt. 

Carrot 1 oz. 1 pkt. 

Cauliflower 1 pkt. 1 pkt. 

Celery 1 oz. 1 pkt. 

Corn, sweet, extra early 1 pt. /^ pt. 

Second early 1 pt. /^ pt. 

Late 1 pt. ^ pt. 

Cucumber 1 oz. 1 oz. 

Eggplant 1 doz. pi. ^ doz. pi. 

Lettuce, leaf 1 oz. 1 pkt. 

Head 1 pkt. 1 pkt. 

Muskmelon 1 oz. J^ oz. 

Onion seed 2 oz. 1 oz. 

Sets, bottom 1 qt. 1 qt. 

Sets, top (perennial) 1 qt. 

Parsley 1 pkt. 1 pkt. 

Parsnip 1 oz. 1 pkt. 

Peas, extra early smooth 1 pt. 

Early dwarf v/rinkled 1 qt. /^ pt. 

Late wrinkled 1 pt. H pt. 

Pepper 1 pkt. 1 pkt. 

Radish 3 oz. 1 oz. 

Rhubarb 1 oz. 

Spinach 1 oz. 1 oz. 

Squash, summer 1 oz. 1 pkt. 

Winter 1 oz. 

Sweet potatoes 200 plants 

Tomato 2pkts. 1 pkt. 

Turnip 1 oz. 1 pkt. 

Watermelon 1 oz. ^-202. 

In growing asparagus the most satisfactory method to 
pursue is that of propagating from seed. The plants 
should be grown in the seed-bed the first year and trans- 



206 PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 

planted to a permanent bed the second spring. As this 
bed will last for a number of years, great care should be 
taken to see that the ground is thoroughly prepared. 
Upon this rests your success. The land should be deeply 
plowed and heavily manured with well-rotted stable 
manure the fall before planting. In planting, the rows 
should be six feet apart and the plants two feet in the 
row. Furrow out the rows to a depth of eight inches 
and plant in the bottom of the furrow. The roots should 
be covered lightly at first, packing the soil well, however, 
around them and filling in the furrow as the stalks appear 
above the surface. It is better not to gather any crops 
until the second spring after the plants are put out, and 
then it should not be cropped heavily. The first two years 
frequent tillage is important, but after that the ground 
is sufficiently shaded and mulched to give little trouble 
from weeds. In growing asparagus, occasional applica- 
tions of salt will stimulate the growth as this is a sea- 
shore plant. Among the best varieties are Conover's 
Colossal and Palmetto. 

About the middle of May I plant cucumbers in rich, 
loose soil, the ground having been laid off in small hills 
six feet apart, with several holes in each of these hills. 
The holes need to be three inches deep and each should 
contain a half-dozen seeds. 

After every rain, or in a week at the outside, rake over 
the surface of the hills, in fact, the whole plot devoted to 
cucumbers. By that time if the weather has been warm 
the young plant will be breaking through the ground. 
After that, continue to cultivate as often as necessary to 
maintain the soil mulch, and please observe that this is the 
most important part of the season's operation. Of course 
if you cultivate properly you will not be troubled with 
weeds. 

Just as soon as the cucumbers appear above the ground, 
take a shovelful of wood ashes and in the early morning: 



PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 207 

while the dew is still on the plants, sprinkle them care- 
fully. Repeat this after every rain, or when for any 
cause the ashes have been blown or washed off the leaves 
of the plant. This will absolutely prevent damage from 
the cucumber bug and you ought to have no loss from that 
source. The ashes not only do no harm but are a decided 
benefit in that they contain valuable fertilizing material 
in the shape of potash. Don't use coal ashes. Always 
use wood ashes. If you haven't any wood ashes a light 
application of air-slaked lime will be of great benefit. 

Ordinarily cucumbers are allowed to run along the 
ground. I have found that the output from a small tract 
is very greatly increased if a trellis is provided and the 
vines are trained up on this. This accomplishes a num- 
ber of purposes. In the first place the vines are off the 
ground and are not injured during the process of culti- 
vation or picking the cucumbers. This is exceedingly im- 
portant. Furthermore, it is then easily possible to see 
every cucumber when it attains the proper size for pick- 
ing. If the vines are on the ground, some which are 
overlooked ripen and this to a large extent weakens the 
vitality of the plant. This trellis is very easily made, 
costs practically nothing, and the only attention that must 
be given is that as soon as the vines are 2 feet or so long 
they will have to be tied up to the trellis. After that 
they will practically take care of themselves. 

The most distinctive feature of the garden on the farm 
should be the reduction of hand labor to a minimum. In 
planting the garden, therefore, it should be laid out in 
long rows, sufficiently far apart to permit the use of a 
horse and cultivator in tending the crops. 

The arrangement of the garden as to length of rows 
and time of planting, is not the only labor saving feature 
that should characterize the typical farmer's garden. 
Field methods should be practiced in preparing the land 
for planting, and as much preliminary work done in the 



208 PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 

fall as is possible, for the sake of both securing an early 
garden and reducing the amount of labor in spring. 
After the land is cleared of refuse from preceding crops, 
it should be heavily manured, and plowed in the fall. The 
amount of manure to be applied will depend somewhat 
upon the fertility of the land, but more largely upon the 
trueness of the farmer's conception of the plant food 
requirements of garden crops. The best gardens are 
possible only where plant food is supplied much more 
liberally than is considered ample for field crops. 

The most tedious labor in the ordinary garden is the 
hand weeding of the small vegetables. By proper man- 
agement of the garden a large amount of this labor can 
be eliminated. One way to avoid excessive labor in hand 
weeding is to keep weed seeds out of the garden as much 
as possible, by avoiding the use of manure containing 
such seeds, and by destroying all weeds in and about the 
garden before they go to seed, even if they appear after 
the crops are harvested. But in spite of all that can be 
done there will always be weed seeds present in garden 
soil. The way to prevent these from producing weeds 
that are larger than the vegetable plants and endangering 
the life of the latter, is to keep them from starting growth 
before the vegetables have a chance to start. This is 
done by working the soil immediately before the vegeta- 
ble seeds are planted, thus killing any weed seedlings that 
are about to appear above the surface, and giving the 
vegetables an even start with the weeds that may develop 
from seeds germinating later. Still another way of re- 
ducing the amount of hand weeding is to cultivate very 
close to the rows with a wheel hoe as soon as the vege- 
table seedlings appear. 

Some crops demand special training or other manipula- 
tion to enable them to grow to the best advantage or de- 
velop the most desirable product. Common Lima beans 
and tall growing peas require artificial support in the 



PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 209 

form of poles and brush or wire netting respectively. 
Except in a region where native timber is abundant it 
may be inconvenient or expensive to provide these sup- 
ports, to say nothing of the labor of preparing and in- 
stalling them. Therefore, it may be advisable in some 
cases to resort to the use of dwarf varieties exclusively. 

Other crops demanding special handling are cauli- 
flower, leeks, celery and endive, all of which require 
blanching to develop a satisfactory, edible product. In 
the case of the cauliflower, the head must be protected 
from the sun by tying the leaves or otherwise securing 
them over the top. Endive likewise is blanched by tying 
up the outer leaves so that the inner portion of the plant 
will be protected from the sun. With both these crops, 
the blanching plants must be closely watched, so that they 
may be used when they have reached the right stage of 
development. Leeks and celery are usually blanched by 
hilling up with earth, though an early crop of celery is 
sometimes blanched by means of boards placed edgewise 
along the row. When earth is used, care must be ex- 
ercised to avoid getting dirt down in the "hearts" of the 
plants, and repeated bankings are necessary. This is a 
somewhat laborious process unless a person is equipped 
with special tools, and at best there is much labor and 
expense involved in the production of a good crop of 
celery. 

The labor of growing some crops is enhanced by the 
necessity of transplanting. The crops usually trans- 
planted are cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, pepper, 
sweet potato and tomato; and an early crop of any of 
these sorts cannot be secured without it, for the seed must 
be started in hot-beds long before the weather is suitable 
for planting these crops in the open. The making and 
care of hot-beds in which plants are usually started en- 
tails considerable labor, as well as the process of trans- 
planting. Late crops of cabbage and tomatoes are some- 



210 PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 

times grown from seed sown where the crop is to mature, 
and late cauHflower and celery may be started in care- 
fully prepared seed beds in the open, thus obviating the 
labor involved in the care of a hot-bed. 

There is a tendency for some gardeners to leave the 
plants of carrots, onions, and similar vegetables too thick, 
or to defer the thinning too long, with the intention of 
making use of the thinnings. Usually this is a serious 
error, except in the case of beets, which can be used quite 
young for greens. The crowded seedlings do not reach 
edible size as soon as they would if not crowded; and 
the removal of part of the crowded plants when they are 
wanted for the table is likely to seriously disturb and im- 
pair the growth of those which remain. A better plan is 
to make at least a preliminary thinning as early as possi- 
ble, leaving the plants perhaps twice as thick as they are 
eventually to stand ; and then to pull out every other plant 
after they reach edible size. This method of thinning is 
especially adapted to beets, carrots, lettuce and onions. 
The other root crops, like parsnips and salsify, should 
be thinned to the full distance at the first thinning. 

Celery is an exceedingly profitable crop and one can 
make it pay either by starting with seed or procuring 
plants. The latter may be set out in July or August after 
some other crop has been raised on the ground. 

The best location for celery is a moist, cool spot, of 
rich loamy soil protected from the wind. Enrich the soil 
heavily with well-rotted stable manure. Give deep plow- 
ing and cultivate thoroughly, in order to have the ground 
mellow at the time of transplanting. 

Setting plants in furrows, in trenches and on the level 
surface are methods employed by various growers. Good 
results have been attained in the following way: Mark 
off rows four feet apart and furrow with stirring plow, 
turning the ridges in the same direction. Set the plants 
six inches apart in the side of the furrow next the ridge 



PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 211 

and a little above the bottom. In subsequent cultivation 
keep the furrows open and use them as ditches for water 
in case of drought. 

Thorough cultivation should be the rule from the start. 
Permit no weeds to grow. The ground should be culti- 
vated after each application of water. 

When the plants have attained the proper size for use, 
the leaves are brought into an upright position by boards 
placed on either side of the row, so that they slope toward 
the plants at the top, or else by dirt drawn against the 
plants and packed firmly around them. The object of this 
is to cause the leaves to take an upright position and ex- 
clude the light from the heart of the plant, so that the 
latter growth is white or "bleached." The process of 
bleaching requires from two to four weeks, depending 
upon the variety and time of year. 

After the bleaching process is carried as far as de- 
sired, the plants may be dug. For early celery this may 
be done in September, but the late crop should not be 
taken up until there is danger from freezing. The plants 
are usually lifted with a spade or potato fork, and the 
decayed outer leaves removed. They are then ready for 
storing. 

Beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas and Irish potatoes 
can be stored in outdoor pits, but they must be covered 
sufficiently to prevent freezing. One of the best ways of 
handling these crops is to place them in a conical pile and 
cover first with six or eight inches of hay or straw, then 
with earth to a similar depth. 

Celery may be stored in various ways, but one of the 
most satisfactory methods for home use is to dig the 
plants with the roots on, and plant them in moist earth 
placed on the cellar floor, or in boxes to be placed in the 
cellar. In either case, the cellar must be cool, the ventila- 
tion good, and the earth surrounding the roots kept moist 
by repeated applications of water. In applying the water, 



212 PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 

care must be taken to wet only the roots and not the tops 
of the plants. If the cellar is kept dark, all new growth 
made during the winter will be thoroughly blanched. 

Cabbage intended for late winter use will keep better 
in an outdoor pit than in a cellar. The same is true of 
parsnips, salsify, horseradish and some of the other root 
crops. Except where the ground is especially well 
drained, the pits are usually made entirely above ground. 
For storing cabbage in this manner, the plants are pulled 
with the roots and leaves on, and placed upside down in 
regular order on a level piece of ground. 

Onions intended for winter use should be cured as soon 
as possible after harvesting, by being kept in a dry place 
where the air can circulate freely about them. Some 
growers spread their onions in a thin layer on the floor 
of the corn crib; others place them in shallow, slatted 
trays stacked under an open shed, or exposed to the sun 
during the day and placed under cover at night. The 
bulbs may also be spread thinly on the floor of a barn loft 
or the attic of a house. No matter where they are placed, 
they must be kept dry and have a free circulation of air 
about them. 

Tomatoes, cabbage, sweet potatoes and other vege- 
tables and garden plants and especially those which are 
started under glass and transplanted, are subject to 
serious injury by cutworms. They appear sometimes in 
great numbers in spring and early summer and frequently 
do severe damage before their ravages are noticed. The 
method of attack is to cut off the young plants at about 
the surface of the ground, and as these insects are of 
large size and voracious feeders they are capable of de- 
stroying many plants in a single night, frequently more 
than they can devour. During the past two years these 
insects, working generally throughout the United States, 
destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of 
crops. By the timely application of remedies, however, 



I 



PRACTICAL STUDY OF GARDENING 213 

it was found that these insects could be readily controlled, 
large areas being successfully treated. The usual method 
of control is by the use of poisoned baits. 

Take a bushel of dry bran, add one pound of arsenic 
or Paris green, and mix it thoroughly into a mash with 
eight gallons of water, in which has been stirred half a 
gallon of molasses. After the mash has stood several 
hours, scatter it in lumps of about the size of a marble 
over the fields where injury is beginning to appear and 
about the bases of the plants set out. Apply late in the 
day so as to place the poison about the plants over night, 
which is the time when the cut worms are active. Apply 
a second time if necessary. Where garden maggots or 
other small insects have appeared, treat the soil with 
tobacco or kerosene emulsion. 

Cucumbers and squash have the same enemies, but the 
beetle will leave the cucumber for the squash, which 
induces some growers to plant a few squash-vines near 
cucumbers in order to trap the beetles. 

Late blight of potatoes causes extremely heavy damage 
some years, the extent depending largely upon weather 
conditions. It is most likely to appear during damp, 
sultry weather in August and September. Where the 
disease has been prevalent in recent seasons the only 
safe method is to spray thoroughly throughout the sum- 
mer so as to ward off possible attacks. The disease is 
caused by a parasitic fungus which attacks the stems 
and under portions of the leaves, spreading in favorable 
weather with extreme rapidity and sometimes wilting an 
entire field in the course of 48 hours. It can scarcely be 
checked by spraying, but its appearance can be prevented 
by this method. 



Commercial Value of Garden Flowers 

Nearly all the common, hardy flowers have great com- 
mercial value. It is possible for farm families to greatly 
increase their income by raising such a variety of flowers 
as can be grown on an acre or less. 

The aster is a favorite in the markets and is a money- 
maker for those who have taste and skill in gardening. 
The evolution of the aster in the past five years has been 
something wonderful. 

Persistent effort on the part of growers induced the 
plain, unpretentious little China Aster of our grand- 
mothers' day to bestir itself with most gratifying results. 

The magnificent chrysanthemum-like blooms of the 
present day bear little resemblance to their Chinese an- 
cestors. To become familiar with the possibilities of this 
old friend in its new development, it is only necessary to 
look at the displays in florists' windows during August 
and September. 

This will suggest, too, many commercial possibilities of 
aster culture. Last year an acquaintance of mine mar- 
keted nearly $300 worth of asters, grown on the rear of a 
city lot. 

There is nothing difficult or complicated about aster 
culture. The plants are usually free from bothersome 
insects, and if given half a chance they attend strictly to 
business, and flower within two months after they have 
been transplanted to the garden. 

It is not best to raise them two successive years in 
the same soil, and one should have well rooted plants 

214 



COMMERCIAL VALUE OF FLOWERS 215 

ready to set out by the first of July, earlier if blossoms 
are desired before September. 

Procure seed of the large variety from some reliable 
seed house. Plant in April in boxes of sifted earth. You 
will find cigar boxes just right for this purpose, as they 
will be light to handle, and are just right for standing 
upon a window-sill, if one has to grow them in the liv- 
ing room. 

Make four drills about a quarter of an inch deep, 
the length of the box. Put about eight seeds to the inch 
in the drill, and cover with earth. Pat down and keep 
moist. The boxes may be placed near the heat, where 
the earth will be kept warm, if the top is kept well mois- 
tened. 

It is a good plan to keep covered with wet moss, 
or if moss cannot be had, place a cloth over the box 
to prevent evaporation. If the seed is fresh, and the 
earth kept warm, the plants will appear by the fourth day. 

The box will then be uncovered and placed in a strong 
light, or the little plants will grow long, weak stems. 
Aster-plants cannot be given too much sunlight. As often 
as the weather will permit, place the boxes of young plants 
outside in the sunlight, but sheltered from the strong 
wind. 

When the plants have their fourth leaf, they should 
be transplanted. Place them an inch apart in flats — boxes 
containing earth two inches in depth. As soon as they 
are well established in these new quarters, give an abund- 
ance of water, and their growth will amaze you. 

They should be kept outside all of the time after being 
placed in the flats. Watch out for frosty nights, how- 
ever, for aster-plants will not stand even a little frost. 
Meanwhile, during the time that the plants are growing 
in the flats, we must be preparing thfe plot in the gar- 
den. Any rich soil is suitable for asters. Of course the 
richer, the better. 



216 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF FLOWERS 

Spade or plow them deep in April. Keep working it oc- 
casionally until time to place the plants in it. If at trans- 
planting time the soil seems at all hard, spade again. 

You will find that all of this preliminary working of 
the land will make the subsequent cultivation easy. 
Nearly all the weed growth has been destroyed. 

The plants will only need attention after every rain, 
when it will be necessary to break the crust to prevent 
too rapid evaporation. In case of drought, keep the top 
soil well stirred. 

If you water at all, give a thorough wetting, and pro- 
ceed after it the same as after a rain. This plan is bet- 
ter than a daily sprinkling. The plants should be about 
ten inches apart in the row, and the rows can be as close 
together as will permit of proper cultivation — twelve to 
fifteen inches. 

If you are growing your asters for the market, or for 
large blooms and long stems, rather than for a mass of 
blossoms, you should remove all but six branches from 
each plant. Remove them as soon as they appear. 

Six flowers are all that one plant can mature and 
give you large, long-stemmed blossoms. If you are work- 
ing for still larger flowers, let each plant bear only three. 

You will find that on these remaining flower-stalks 
there will be a bud form at the base of every leaf. These 
must be carefully removed. This disbudding operation 
is really about all the work there is to aster cultivation, 
after the plants have been transplanted into their per- 
manent quarters. 

As a cut flower the aster has very few rivals. Its 
keeping qualities are not surpassed even by the chrys- 
anthemum. Its range of color is nearly, if not quite, 
equal to that flower. For three seasons now I have 
found a ready market for choice, long-stemmed asters, 
at fifty cents a dozen. The demand seems unlimited. 

While asters are easier to manage than other flowers, 



COMMERCIAL VALUE OF FLOWERS 217 

it will be found that dahlias, gladioli and nasturtiums fit 
naturally into the gardening scheme and give great pleas- 
ure. 

Dahlias can be raised from seed, or from small plants 
supplied by dealers, but neither of these methods is as 
satisfactory as starting them from dormant tubers. Do 
not plant an undivided bunch of tubers. Best results are 
obtained from placing one, never more than two, tubers 
in a hill. If two are used they are not separated. 

Plant them two and a half or three feet apart each 
way. Place the tubers about four inches in the earth. 
Let only one sprout or plant grow from a hill. Some 
tubers will send up several, but they must be removed as 
soon as they become visible above the surface of the 
ground. Stake early and tie plants to the stake with 
strips of cloth. It is imperative that they be kept well 
tied to their support. While the plants are self-sup- 
porting, they are full of sap and very brittle. A wind 
storm will ruin dahlias if they are not tied securely to 
their stakes. 

From each tuber planted in the spring you should in 
the fall have a clump of from three to five with which 
to start your next season's plants. 

Keep top soil loose around your plants, but do not cul- 
tivate deeply after they have commenced to make rapid 
growth. Dahlias throw out a network of threadlike roots 
quite near the surface, and in cultivating great care 
should be taken not to injure these roots. In midsum- 
mer supply a top-mulch of barn-yard manure if you can 
procure it; if not, use lawn clippings. Make this dress- 
ing as thick as you can, up to eight inches. Your dahlias 
will need no further care other than to keep them prop- 
erly tied to stakes and the blossoms well cut. 

Gladioli have been termed the poor man's orchids. 
Anybody can grow them and in almost any soil, although 
they have a special liking for rich loam. Many of the 



218 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF FLOWERS 

newer sorts are wonderfully beautiful, and one of the 
advantages of the gladiolus is the fact that the blos- 
soms will last for two weeks or more when cut, if the 
cutting is done just before the first flower on the stalk 
opens. Then, day after day, the other blossoms will un- 
fold, until the stalk is full of glorious color. 

The bulbs should be planted four inches deep, and 
care should be taken to have them go in the ground 
right side up. If the soil is kept stirred, less water will 
be necessary, and the plants will respond with extra fine 
flowers. If one desires a long blooming season of 
gladioli, plantings should be made every two weeks from 
April to June. They may be planted in rows eighteen 
inches apart and six inches in the row. One particular 
advantage of the gladiolus is the fact that it is seldom 
attacked by insect pests or plant diseases. These flowers 
also have commercial possibilities. One has only to study 
florists' windows during the summer and fall to be con- 
vinced of this fact. 

Pansies prefer a partly shaded location and salvia 
thrives best in full sunshine. A late mulch benefits salvia. 

Keep your pansy blossoms picked. Let no seeds form. 
In early winter cover with a layer of leaves and place a 
few branches on top to prevent the wind from blowing 
the leaves away. Remove the covering early in the spring 
and you will probably find buds already showing color, 
and it will not be long until you have plenty of these 
charming blossoms. Start mignonette and nasturtiums in 
the plot where they are to grow. Both varieties are rapid 
growers. 

The beautiful lily-of-the-valley succeeds outside, in 
almost any location, but prefers shade and plenty of 
moisture. When it is once planted and becomes estab- 
lished, the crowns keep increasing, the large ones flower- 
ing each year without any attention beyond the applica- 
tion of a top-dressing of manure or rich soil in the fall. 



COMMERCIAL VALUE OF FLOWERS 219 

Lilies-of-the-valley may be propagated by seeds, which 
ripen freely if allowed, and should be sown in the spring 
outside. The usual method of propagation, however, is 
by the numerous crowns which form at the joints of 
creeping roots, or underground stems. If the crowns are 
allowed to grow undisturbed, they become too thickly 
crowded, and do not produce such fine flowers as when 
more space is afforded. 

Select and prepare a piece of ground in a border, with 
either an east or west aspect. It should be manured and 
well trenched. The crowns should be lifted in the fall, or 
at any time before growth commences in the spring, and 
placed together, according to their size. 

In planting, a shallow trench should be cut out, the 
crowns placed upright in it about two inches apart, so 
that their points are just below the surface, and the soil 
filled in. Other trenches may then be prepared and 
planted in a similar way, leaving a space of about nine 
inches between them. Hoe occasionally to keep the sur- 
face open and clean, and watering in dry weather, until 
the leaves dry away, will be all that is necessary after- 
ward. Crowns thus treated may be lifted for forcing the 
following winter, if required, but they are much stronger 
if allowed to stay until the second year. The crowns to 
be used for early forcing should be placed rather thickly 
in pots or boxes, and a little light soil shaken among the 
roots; but not over the tops. They should be covered 
with moss. 

Another plan is to insert them similarly in propaga- 
tion frames, and pot up as they come into flower. The 
roots do not grow during this period, consequently it is 
immaterial which method is adopted. Plunge in a bot- 
tom heat of about 85 degrees, and if possible maintain a 
surface temperature of 10 degrees less. This will en- 
courage the production of leaves and flowers and at the 
same time — conditions not readilv obtained with the 



220 COMMERCIAL VALUE OF FLOWERS 

earlier supplies. If pots or boxes are used, empty ones 
of similar size may be inverted over them to keep the 
crown dark. This is considered beneficial in assisting 
to start them into growth. 

It is important that the soil be placed as lightly as 
possible around the roots, in order that the heat may 
pass through readily. Water of the same temperature 
should be given to keep the whole well moistened. The 
very earliest batch sometimes fails ; but if the crowns are 
good, and proper attention is given in forcing, each of the 
later ones may be relied upon to produce flowers. 

Grown in pots, and forced into flower early in the 
spring, the lily-of-the-valley constitutes an invaluable 
subject for decoration. The natural flowering season is 
May. By obtaining a plentiful supply of crowns, and 
forcing carefully, the season may commence in January, 
and a succession of flowers be secured thenceforth until 
June. 



Making and Care of Hotbeds and Cold Frames 

The cold frame and hotbed are worthy of much wider 
attention than they now enjoy. With their aid the autumn 
season can be prolonged and the spring season hastened. 
They will yield herbs and salads in variety in early spring 
and hasten the starting of summer crops. To the flower 
lover they are a real necessity for the carrying of many 
things through the winter, and few people indeed have 
ever fully developed the possibilities of pleasure possessed 
by an ordinary glass-covered frame. 

The function of a cold frame is to ward off cold winds, 
to keep the ground clear of snow, and in the spring to 
increase the feeble heat of the slanting sunbeams, and 
thus foster plant growth. 

The construction is simple. The back board is usually 
twelve inches and the front eight inches wide. The two 
are connected by a tapered board twelve inches wide at 
one end and eight inches at the other. Standard sash are 
3x6 feet, and it takes a box of 6x8 inch glass to glaze 
three sash. The frame work can be readily made by a 
local carpenter or any one handy with tools ; and when 
complete the frame is set in a sheltered, well-drained 
position, usually near the house. 

A cold frame is simply a frame having sash, but no 
other means of heating. Fill the frame with soil 6 inches 
deep in front and 8 or 9 inches at the back; make shal- 
low drills, 3 inches or 4 inches apart, across the face of 
the soil in the frame, and in these sow the seeds, covering 
them thinly and tamping them gently; then water mod- 
erately through a fine hose. Now put on the sash, and 

221 



222 MAKING AND CARE OF HOTBEDS 

keep all snug and warm until the seedlings appear, when 
the sashes should be tilted up during the day to admit 
fresh air freely and make the plants sturdy. As the 
seedlings wax in strength, remove the sash both day and 
night, in fine weather, but replace it as a protection 
against wet, muggy or cold weather. As soon as the 
plants are big enough, transplant them into the open 
garden. 

In sowing in a cold frame, carefully observe that the 
kinds of plants are of somewhat the same nature, 
strength and time of germinating. When this is not the 
case, or there is any uncertainty about it, better sow in 
pots, pans or flats, and set these close together in the 
frame; as the seedlings appear in the pots or flats, re- 
move these to the lightest, sunniest place in the frame, 
and the ungerminated ones keep by themselves. After- 
wards as regards transplanting, treat as directed above 
in the manner of seed sown in the frame. 

A hotbed is a cold frame placed upon a quantity of 
fermenting manure. The hotbed is usually made ready 
in February or March. In the preparation of the manure 
it is best to collect the requisite amount from the horse 
stable, and make it into a compact heap, watering it if 
dry. In a few days active fermentation will be in prog- 
ress, when the heap should be turned, watering again if 
necessary, shaking out the lumps. The aim is to induce 
an active and uniform fermentation of the whole mass, 
and to have it continue for some time after the soil is 
placed on it. 

Select a well-drained spot, and make the pile of manure 
eight or nine feet wide by whatever length is necessary, 
with a depth of fifteen to eighteen inches; or a foot of 
soil may be dug out and filled in with manure, well 
tramped down. Place the frame on it. Then put three 
or four inches of good soil uniformly over the surface. 



MAKING AND CARE OF HOTBEDS 223 

Some manure or soil can be thrown up against the outer 
boards, which will help to hold the heat ; put on the sash 
and keep tight for three or four days. There should be 
a thermometer kept in the hotbed, and when the tem- 
perature falls to 70 degrees seed may be sown with 
safety. The temperature in a hotbed should not be 
allowed to go above 70 degrees in the day, nor below 50 
at night. Seeds may be sown in it in the same way as 
specified in the case of a cold frame, but it is safer for 
the amateur to sow in pots, pans or flats than to sow in 
the earth-bed of the hotbed. While a hotbed is new 
it is well to always keep a chink of ventilation to allow 
the discharge of "steam" or ammonia; if not, a damp 
mould will spread over the seed-pots or the seedlings will 
rot off. Keep the sprouted seeds by themselves, and the 
pots of unsprouted ones by themselves; give increased 
light and ventilation to the former. As regards harden- 
ing off and transplanting, treat as for cold frames. A 
hotbed should be covered overhead with straw mats or 
carpet at night in cold weather to conserve the heat, but 
this covering should be removed in the daytime. 

With a hotbed the amateur can start almost any kind 
of vegetables or flower seed. By sowing such vegetables 
as eggplant, pepper, tomatoes, etc., and such flower seeds 
as heliotrope, scarlet sage, vinca, verbenas, etc., along in 
March, it is possible to have nice stocky plants ready to 
set out as soon as the weather conditions are favorable, 
insuring early returns from the vegetables and a long 
season of bloom from the flowers. 

I know of no better way of getting the youngsters in- 
terested in agricultural matters than that of teaching 
them how to make and care for the hotbed. 

The preparation of the manure is not such a particular 
job as is generally supposed, but the simple principle in- 
volved is not generally known. 



224 MAKING AND CARE OF HOTBEDS 

The yeast fungus, when once introduced into a manure 
heap suitable to its development, spreads rapidly, and 
soon has the whole mass in a state of heat. 

If the manure is very hot, the soil should be put on at 
once, but if not, the sash should be placed over the 
manure for a few days, until the manure is well heated, 
then the soil put on. 

The bed should be watched, and as soon as the seed of 
weeds which are in the soil begin to come up all over 
the bed, it is time to plant the garden seed. 

Planting the seed is one of the most fascinating parts 
of the work. To put the tiny seed into the mellow earth, 
and in a few days see the little plants shove their heads 
up to the light of day is well worth while. 

The bed should be marked off into perfectly straight 
rows that run toward the rear from the front of the 
frame, the depth of the rows to correspond with the 
varieties of the seeds planted. 

The seeds of eggplant, tomatoes and peppers are thin, 
and require more moisture than the seed of cabbage and 
other vegetables that have the thick or round seed, and 
should be planted deeper. 

The main object is to plant just deep enough, so that 
the seed will not dry out after they germinate, and be- 
fore they are well up and started. The soil should not 
get very dry any time after the seeds are planted, or even 
after the plants are up and growing. 



War on Field and Garden Pests 

It takes a lot of vigorous effort to make a successful war 
on field and garden pests, which annually wipe out a 
large part of farm profits. 

The cutworm seems to have been about as destructive 
as ever in recent years, and some orchardists and gar- 
deners have felt like giving up in despair. Fungous 
diseases and other destructive agencies also have gained 
ground. 

The war against them should go on, however, and land 
owners need to study methods. There is a great deal at 
stake, and this is no time for discouragement. Plant 
diseases and insects may be increased by continuously 
planting one crop upon the same field. Every crop has 
its peculiar insect enemies, and it is natural to assume 
that these enemies will be more numerous the second, 
third or fourth year the same crop is grown. 

The cutworm has not only a wide distribution, but it is 
a promiscuous feeder as well. Scarcely any crop of field, 
garden or orchard is not subject to 'attack. It may clean 
vegetable and truck gardens absolutely. It not only takes 
potatoes, sweet potatoes, lettuce, beets, carrots, etc., but 
all the ornamentals fall before its voracious appetite. 
When very numerous it destroys, or at least damages, 
alfalfa. Apple, pear, peach, currant, blackberry, rasp- 
berry, gooseberry, grape and all fruit trees are victims 
of this gourmand. 

Spraying with paris green, one pound to lOO gallons 
of water, to which five pounds of freshly slaked lime 
has been added, will often save vegetables. Spraying 

225 



226 WAR ON FIELD AND GARDEN PESTS 

alfalfa or other succulent vegetation with this same mix- 
ture, or with two pounds of lead arsenate to fifty gallons 
of water, has often been used with marked success. 

A poison bran mash has been used by many gardeners. 
A pound of paris green to forty pounds of bran should 
be sweetened either by use of cheap sugar or molasses 
and sufficient water added to make a stiff mash. Place in 
small bunches near the plants likely to be attacked. 

Spray orchard trees late in the summer, after the fruit 
has been gathered, while the days are still warm. They 
also need spraying just after the blossoms have fallen in 
the spring. In bad seasons a third spraying is necessary. 
Use both an insect poison and a fungus poison, applying 
both at once. Use lead arsenate or paris green for the 
insects and bordeaux mixture or lime sulphur wash for 
the diseases. Better buy the lead arsenate and lime sul- 
phur already prepared unless you have had experience 
in making these mixtures. 

The codling moth, principal cause of wormy apples, 
is responsible for an annual loss in the United States of 
$12,000,000 in fruit and an expenditure of $3,000,000 to 
$4,000,000 for sprays and labor for spraying. However, 
spraying with arsenical sprays saves 90 to 95 per cent of 
the crop. 

Spraying machines are as much a part of modern 
orchard and garden tools as pruning shears and culti- 
vators. There is not an orchard, garden or farm that 
would not be better for their use. Indeed, in some cases, 
it is almost a question of abandoning the cultivation of 
certain crops or the use of spraying machines for their 
protection. It is quite feasible for neighbors to co-oper- 
ate in the purchase of an outfit. 

He who does not spray from this time on will be left 
behind in the race for success in the market and his sup- 
ply of fruits will be deficient in both quantity and quality. 



WAR ON FIELD AND GARDEN PESTS 227 

There are those who have taken advantage of the aids to 
practical horticulture, and their fruits are known in the 
markets as being clean, smooth and sound. Anyone 
knows how poor a chance for sale wormy, knotty or 
scabby fruit has beside that which is nearly perfect. 

Many experts declare they cannot raise fruit success- 
fully unless they spray at the end of the blossoming 
period and again after the fruit has gained some size. 
The cutworm is particularly destructive and hard to fight. 
These insects eat the buds and young foliage only during 
the night. During the day they hide at the base of the 
tree, going down a few inches into the soil. 

The best treatment for this pest is to scatter poisoned 
bait close to the tree. This is made by mixing one 
pound of paris green to twenty pounds of bran, then 
adding one or two quarts of molasses. Work up with 
enough water to make a stiff mash. Do not let chickens 
have access to this poisoned bran. As a supplement to 
this treatment spray the trees with bordeaux mixture. 
The same scheme of treatment will answer for the garden 
cutworms. The bordeaux mixture will help to protect 
plants. When cutworms attack corn or other crops the 
poisoned bran scattered in the fields will prove effective. 

For successful coping with the codling moth it is 
essential that all fallen and diseased fruit should be 
gathered and destroyed. Where bandages are used these 
should be removed and thoroughly cleaned or destroyed. 
The poison used with best results in killing codling moths 
is arsenate of lead. Bordeaux mixture or a lime-sulphur 
wash is added as a fungicide. 

The potato beetle is one of the worst insect enemies 
of potatoes. They come in small numbers, first laying 
clusters of orange-colored eggs on the under side of the 
leaves. Then is the time to begin to destroy them, before 
they have had time to do much injury. The eggs hatch 



228 WAR ON FIELD AND GARDEN PESTS 

in about a week, hence if the plants are promptly sprayed 
with poison the young will be killed and the pest reduced 
or destroyed altogether. 

Paris green at the rate of one pound to the acre in 
twenty-five to forty gallons of water is a common remedy. 
It is also used in connection with bordeaux mixture, the 
latter killing the blight. Lime should be used with the 
paris green. Perhaps a better insecticide for potatoes is 
arsenate of lead, applied at the rate of five or six pounds 
to the acre in about fifty gallons of water or bordeaux 
mixture. 

The cottony maple scale is one of the best-known in- 
sects because it heavily infests several common shade 
trees, and because the cottony masses beneath the body 
of the adult female in summer make it a conspicuous 
object. These large white masses are a deposit of waxy 
threads within which are the minute, oval, pale yellowish 
eggs. The soft maple is the tree most generally infested 
by this insect. The boxelder is also subject to injury, and 
next to this, perhaps, the linden or basswood. 

Among the other trees and woody plants often more 
or less injured are the elm, honey locust, black locust, 
walnut, sumac, willow, poplar, beech, hawthorn, bitter- 
sweet, grapevine and Virginia creeper. The common 
kerosene emulsion, made by mixing kerosene with one- 
third of its volume of strong soapsuds, is a satisfactory 
spray and should be applied twice in the summer. Where 
caterpillars are usually numerous apply arsenate of lead 
freely. 

The government has shown that insect pests cause a 
loss of about ten per cent on nearly all crops. The an- 
nual damage is placed at $420,000,000. The cinch bug 
wheat pest sometimes costs us $20,000,000 a year. 

The boll weevil costs the cotton planters $20,000,000 a 
year. 



WAR ON FIELD AND GARDEN PESTS 229 

The tree-insect pests cost the nation $100,000,000 a 
year. 

The grasshoppers, cutworms, army worms, wire- 
worms, leaf-hoppers and other insects cost the nation, 
annually, more millions than can be counted separately; 
but the total for all insect pests is $420,000,000. Now, 
have we not paid this price about long enough? 

The value of the birds destroyed as ''game" and for 
"food" is not a fraction of the value they would save to 
the national wealth, if permitted to live. Regarding the 
slaughter of our birds, the increase of insect pests, and 
the losses they inflict upon us, the great mass of the 
American people are sound asleep. The situation is 
illogical, absurd and intolerable. 

In preparing the lime-sulphur mixture this plan may be 
followed: Sulphur, 15 pounds; unslaked lime, 20 
pounds; use an iron kettle, thirty to sixty gallons, and 
some sort of a tank equally large that will hold hot water. 
In the iron kettle heat to boiling five gallons of water. 
Add the lime broken into small pieces, but not pulverized. 
Add immediately the sulphur, stirring it in as the lime 
slakes. Add hot water as necessary to keep from boiling 
over. Boil constantly from the time the lime is put in 
until the mixture is done. Boil for an hour or more un- 
til properly cooked, when it will be of a dark amber 
color. Color does not change when mixture has suf- 
ficiently cooked. Add hot water until you have forty- 
five gallons, keep stirred and strain through a fine 
strainer into the barrel or tank. Spray onto trees imme- 
diately. Apply when the leaves are off, during winter or 
in early spring. Never let the mixture stand over night 
or until cold before applying it; it will not do the work 
when allowed to stand. Remember to keep it boiling all 
the time while cooking. Where desirable, steam may 
be used for cooking this mixture, but the mixture must 
be constantly stirred during cooking process. 



230 WAR ON FIELD AND GARDEN PESTS 

For the arsenate of lead mixture use the following: 
Lead arsenate, 6 pounds; water, 120 gallons. This mix- 
ture stays in suspension better than paris green, but is 
more expensive and has little advantage over paris green 
except where rains are frequent it is less likely to burn 
the foliage. Arsenate of lead will adhere to the foliage 
longer and therefore should be more valuable for the late 
sprays or for leaf-eating insects. 

After five years of experimenting with different spray 
material in apple orchards, the New Hampshire station is 
just out with suggestive conclusions. The work was con- 
ducted on different farms in different parts of the state, 
and the sprays were used primarily as fungicides. Prof. 
Charles Brooks, author of the bulletins, reaches con- 
clusions a bit contrary to the general spraying verdict. 
While lime-sulphur is advocated as the best all-around 
spray, Prof. Brooks says : "No fungicide has been found 
that holds diseases in check as well as bordeaux. When 
showers follow soon after an application of bordeaux, 
the leaves are likely to be spotted and the fruit somewhat 
rusted. However, the injury to fruit is seldom great 
enough to be of importance when apples are sold in 
barrels. If extra fancy fruit is wanted for sale in boxes, 
the use of bordeaux under New Hampshire conditions 
seems questionable." 

Second thought will indicate that Prof. Brooks is not 
so far from the general advice given on spraying. People 
want fancy fruit, hence they substitute lime-sulphur. It 
is largely to avoid spray injury that lime-sulphur has 
replaced bordeaux. No one ever questioned the high 
value of bordeaux as a fungicide. The trouble is it does 
too well, reaching the fruit as well as fungus. In New 
Hampshire experience, no commercial bordeaux has been 
found as satisfactory as home-made. "The best formula 
of bordeaux for the apple orchard is 3-3-50, that is, three 



WAR ON FIELD AND GARDEN PESTS 231 

pounds each of copper sulphate and lime to 50 gallons 
of water." 

Regarding lime-sulphur, Prof. Brooks says: "It 
proved a satisfactory substitute for bordeaux in most 
cases. It caused little or no injury, and in some seasons 
controlled the diseases as well as bordeaux. In 1910, 
two sprayings of lime-sulphur were entirely inadequate 
to hold scab in check. When diseases are serious and 
the season a rainy one, more applications of lime-sulphur 
will be required than of bordeaux. As a poison for in- 
sects, arsenate of lead is the only thing that has proved 
satisfactory for use with lime-sulphur. The iron sul- 
phide mixture gave good results the one season it was 
used, and is apparently worth further trial. The Bald- 
win is apparently more susceptible to spray injury than 
the Mcintosh. 

"The number of sprayings required will vary with the 
season and the diseases and general care of the orchard. 
The removal of all cankers will greatly decrease the leaf 
spot, and the destruction of the fallen leaves is of value 
in controlling both scab and leaf spot. The application 
of a strong fungicide before the leaves are out, and one 
of a regular strength just before the flower buds open, 
will decrease the number of sprayings needed later." 



Enemies of the Corn Crop 

The corn root-worm has ruined thousands of acres of 
corn during the last thirty years, and yet it is one of the 
easiest species to control, when once the farmer becomes 
acquainted with its habits. Like most insects of this class, 
it is useless to attempt to hold it in check by the applica- 
tion of poisons ; it covers too much territory, and, during 
the period when it does its injury, it is concealed beneath 
the surface of the soil. As one becomes better ac- 
quainted with its life history, therefore, the more evident 
it becomes that the application of good common sense in 
the farming operations is the only remedy needed. 

This insect is closely related to the striped cucumber 
beetle, belonging to the same genus, is about the same 
size and shape, but the color is a light green. The adult 
beetles may be found feeding upon the silk and pollen of 
the corn during the last of July and through August until 
the corn plants approach maturity, when they lay eggs on 
the base of the stalks, just below the surface of the soil, 
and pass the winter in the egg state. The eggs hatch in 
late spring or early summer, and at first eat the smaller 
roots, but, as the plants develop the larvae bore out the 
larger roots, causing the plants to dwindle and die, or to 
become so dwarfed as to amount to nothing. The full 
grown larvse are white, chunked invididuals, about one- 
tenth of an inch long, and nearly as thick. They pupate 
in small oval cells in the ground and the beetles appear 
soon after. 

As the larvse do not feed upon anything but the corn 
roots, it is evident that if a regular rotation of crops is 

232 



ENEMIES OF THE CORN CROP 233 

practiced, so that corn is grown on the same soil only once 
in three or four years, there will be no chance for the 
insects to increase. The trouble invariably comes from 
planting corn after corn, except on river bottoms, which 
are overflowed several times during each year. I have 
seen corn grown on the bottom lands along the Wabash 
river near LaFayette, every year for the past twenty- 
eight years, and I have never known a crop to be in- 
jured by this insect. But on the upland, black prairie 
and muck soils, where corn is the principal crop that can 
be successfully grown, this insect is sure to give trouble. 
On such land oats and grass should rotate with corn. 

The corn root-aphis is a different proposition, as it 
belongs to the suckling class or true bugs, but like the 
other, it does its work on the roots under ground, and 
so is difficult to reach. These lice are usually attended 
by ants, as the latter are very fond of the "honey dew" 
which is given out by the lice through two little tubes, 
which are situated on the back of the adult insect. The 
ants even gather up the aphis eggs and store them in 
their nests where they are cared for during the winter. 
During April and May, as soon as the smart-weed and 
fox-tail grass make their appearance, these eggs begin to 
hatch and the ants carry their young wards and colonize 
them on the roots of these plants. As soon as the young 
corn plants are well started, the second brood of lice be- 
gins to appear and the ants transfer them to the corn 
roots where they continue to increase with great rapidity, 
and to suck the life out of the corn plants. 

It is evident from the above, that the land seldom be- 
comes infested with these lice until the second or possibly 
the third corn crop. If, therefore, a three or four-year 
rotation is practiced in which corn appears only once, 
there will be but little, if any, damage done by the aphis. 

Then, too, the proper fertilization of the soil is of great 
importance, as it enables the corn to make a crop in spite 



234 ENEMIES OF THE CORN CROP 

of the lice. A heavy dressing of stable manure is gener- 
ally preferable for this purpose. A dressing of kainit 
drilled in the row, at the rate of lOO pounds per acre at 
the time of planting has been found to almost completely 
protect the plants from the attacks of the lice. This 
material is used quite largely in some sections. 

As the ants protect the eggs in their nests during win- 
ter, it is a good plan to plow the field which is intended 
for corn the second or third year, as late in the fall as 
possible, and as deeply as possible, in order to break up 
the ants' nests. This will also assist in destroying the 
weeds which serve as a starter for the lice in the spring. 
By dipping the seed corn in a solution of wood alcohol 
and oil of lemon before planting, the number of lice and 
ants may be greatly reduced, but this will prove true only 
when the weather conditions are just right. If heavy 
rains follow the planting, the material is washed off and 
so loses its force. With our present knowledge, there- 
fore, rotation, late fall plowing, early and thorough cul- 
tivation, and the use of kainit are recommended. 



Wealth in Honey Under Skillful Management 

It has been asserted that a thousand dollars can be 
cleaned up easier in the production of honey than in 
almost any other line of farm activity. Whether such a 
statement is literally true or not, it is certain that bee- 
keeping belongs in the line of mixed farming, and is 
worthy of general attention. 

A few persons develop a large business in bee culture, 
and grow wealthy from the sale of honey, whereas the 
majority who start apiaries fail to realize enough from 
them to pay for the time and trouble involved. 

There is a seeming inconsistency here, which is ex- 
plained by the fact that the losers have been neglectful 
of vital points, while the winners have given skilled care 
to such questions as food supply, disease, protection from 
cold, and marketing the product. It is a business that 
calls for much reading and watchfulness. 

It pays to winter the apiary in dry, snug quarters, and 
the shed or house ought to be ready by November i. It 
is a common mistake to place the colonies in a cellar at 
the approach of winter. They are pretty sure to suffer 
from dampness or a lack of ventilation. The ordinary 
granary will answer the purpose, if space can be spared. 
It is essential to keep the hives free from wind. An even 
temperature is necessary, or moisture may accumulate 
from the alternate freezing and thawing. 

Moths are usually prevalent in the hives after rainy 
weather of the fall, and many dead bees can be picked out 
of the combs when it comes time to prepare for winter. 
One diseased swarm will have a bad effect on the entire 

235 



236 WEALTH IN HONEY 

apiary. If there are any colonies affected with moths or 
foul brood, they should be kept separate from the others. 

It is best to take out all the honey where there are indi- 
cations of disease and give the bees a clean hive, with a 
fresh supply of food. Wash and fumigate the old boxes 
before they are used again. It is important to have clean, 
well-made hives, with joints so tight that worms cannot 
secrete themselves out of reach of the bees. 

Owners of apiaries who are not satisfied with the 
appearance of their swarms in spring will be wise to intro- 
duce a new lot of Italian queens bought from reliable 
dealers. This, with clean hives, will be apt to bring 
success again. 

A vigorous swarm will gather loo pounds of honey in 
a season, in addition to its own food supply, provided the 
distance to travel does not exceed a quarter of a mile. 
This product is worth $14 to $20, according to whether 
the producer sells at retail or wholesale. Call it $15 for 
the sake of the illustration. One hundred colonies would 
earn $1,500. Letting the food supply be governed by 
chance, a colony will produce thirty-five to seventy pounds 
in a good season. One hundred colonies will earn about 
$750. Owners need to provide a patch of buckwheat or 
alsike near the apiary. This will insure honey-making in 
bad seasons and save the bees a great deal of travel. 

It is easy to handle bees when you know how. Undoubt- 
edly a beekeeper often gets stung; it would be useless to 
deny it, and it is scarcely consoling to a novice to tell 
him he will get used to being stung; but after a time a 
beekeeper really does become inoculated, after which, 
although the momentary pain may be sharp, there are no 
disagreeable after-effects, such as swelling, etc. 

The fear of stings prevents many from liking the 
work, and yet, when properly protected with a bee-veil, 
and working only in the warm part of the day, and never 



WEALTH IN HONEY 237 

when cloudy, rainy or cold, and with the use of a good 
smoker, one need rarely be stung. 

In many cases the sting of a bee is attended with much 
pain and swelling, while in others there are no ill effects 
produced whatever, and there is no doubt but that the 
system may become inured to the poison so that no bad 
effects are produced. 

It is much easier to prevent the anger of bees than to 
stop it after it has begun. If you mismanage a colony of 
bees and arouse their anger, it is quite likely that this 
disposition will remain with them for a few days. 

A bee away from home, or laden with honey, never 
volunteers an attack. 

Thus, in order to render bees harmless, it is only nec- 
essary to cause them to fill themselves with honey, and 
this is done by frightening them with smoke. When 
smoke is driven into a hive through the entrance, the bees 
at once begin filling themselves with honey. 

But with them, as with human beings, it is the most 
experienced which are slowest to take fright, so when 
the old bees are all at home, it is more difficult, and takes 
more time to compel them all to fill themselves. 

For this reason it is much safer to handle bees during 
the warmest part of the day, or at a time when the 
greater part of the old bees are in the field. 

The bees which compose a swarm are usually filled with 
honey for the journey which they expect to take, and 
they are harmless unless crushed, or very much irritated 
by the anger of others, and the smell of the poison. 

An expert may open a hive without smoke and without 
danger, and may handle the combs and return them to the 
hive without getting a single sting, by being quiet, steady 
and fearless. It is a fact that the fearless apiarist may 
often be entirely unharmed, while others a rod away may 
be stung. 



238 WEALTH IN HONEY 

When you wish to open a hive of bees, arm yourself 
with a smoker, cover your head with a veil, and step 
boldly to the front of the hive ; send the smoke through 
the opening for half a minute, then stop, and repeat the 
operation after another half-minute, or until they make a 
steady hum, which will show that they have given up the 
desire to fight. Then open the hive, smoke gently, and 
you may lift the combs, one after another. 

I do not like the plan of building a repository in the 
side of a hill any better than I like a cellar under the 
dwelling. With either plan there are bad results, and a 
frame building, high and dry, is in every way preferable. 
Outdoor wintering is not generally successful, but some 
experts use chaff hives with sawdust cushions over the 
top of the brood chamber. 

In case of outdoor wintering, it is well to have all hives 
facing southward, so the sun can shine on the entrances 
and keep them free from ice. After a heavy fall of snow, 
always sweep in front of the hives, leaving the snow 
banked around the other three sides, as it will do no 
harm there, but will help to keep off the prevailing winds. 

Bees will take an occasional flight during warm days 
in winter, and sometimes many are seen lying about dead 
on the snow, but such are generally the old ones that are 
easily chilled and fail to get back to their hives. Such 
losses are not serious. 

With too small an entrance, in a damp climate, there 
will be moldy combs, and more than the proper amount 
of dead bees. The trouble becomes aggravated in the 
course of the winter by the clogging of the entrance with 
dead bees. Let the full entrance be given as in summer, 
and see that the dead bees are cleaned from it every few 
weeks. 

During heavy storms in winter, it frequently happens 
that hives are entirely buried in snow. While the snow is 
light and porous, air will penetrate it and reach the 



WEALTH IN HONEY 239 

entrances of the hives; but should the snow become 
crusty or ice form at the front, the bees would be in 
danger of suffocating. 

Some people are of the opinion that if we have a cold, 
steady winter, in which the bees remain confined to their 
hives for several months, there is less danger of winter 
losses, because fewer of the bees wander away and get 
lost. There would be a point in this, if it were not for 
the danger of the overloading of their bowels with fetid 
matter, which they cannot discharge in the hive without 
greatly endangering the life or health of the colony. 

Diarrhoea is often brought about during the winter 
season. It is no doubt caused by fermented or extremely 
thin honey. It has been found that bees located near 
cider mills or cane mills will contract the trouble from 
feeding too much on the apple pomace or cane juice. 

Cold weather, dampness or a sudden change of tem- 
perature has been known to bring on the disease. As 
soon as the outbreak is noticed, the bees should be kept 
as warm as possible, and the hive should be well wrapped. 
During the cider season the pomace should be removed 
and fed to the hogs, where the bees cannot partake of it. 

During the winter the bees are huddled close together 
in a compact cluster, the interior of which is at a normal 
temperature, while the space outside of it may be even 
below freezing. 

As the season advances, and the weather gets warmer, 
the cluster expands itself, brood rearing begins, and 
honey is brought in, but all the work done is only inside 
the cluster, as the temperature is too low outside of it 
to admit of anything being done. 

At no time of the year does skillful treatment and care 
of the bees yield a greater reward than during the spring 
months. A great mistake is often made in taking the 
bees out of winter quarters too early in the spring, as the 
weather is unsettled at this time, and a cold snap of a 



240 WEALTH IN HONEY 

few days will be apt to cause the colony to dwindle to 
almost nothing, if it does not entirely succumb. 

I would advise setting them out about the time soft 
maple and elm trees begin to bloom. If there are only a 
few hives, they can all be set out at once. Select a pleas- 
ant day, so the bees can enjoy a cleansing flight. Bees 
often become badly mixed up if a great number of hives 
are set out at one time, some of the hives getting too 
many bees, and some not enough. 

If the bees are disposed to dysentery before setting out 
time has actually arrived, they may, with profit, be set out 
some pleasant day for a flight, and then placed back 
toward evening, when they will be able to endure a much 
longer period of confinement. 

As soon as the warm weather approaches, go over the 
entire apiary and examine each hive, to ascertain the con- 
dition of the bees. You may find a few colonies where 
the queen is absent. This is quickly noticed by the dis- 
concerted action of the bees themselves ; and then, look- 
ing further, it may be noticed that no brood is present. 
Such hives place under other hives, with free access 
between them. The queenless bees will readily unite with 
the colony over them. 



Care and Marketing of Extracted Honey 

The care and marketing of extracted honey require con- 
siderable special knowledge. There is a continual demand 
for this commodity, and apiarists should take advantage 
of it. Imperfect combs may be used up in this way, 
provided the quality of the honey is good. An almost 
unlimited retail trade can be worked up for extracted 
as well as comb honey. Extracting is strongly recom- 
mended in working colonies for large returns, for much 
work is saved the bees and more honey is obtained. 
Much that would otherwise be used in the production of 
wax for building the combs is carried up into the super, 
thus adding considerably to the surplus. Honey, unlike 
many other commodities, will keep good almost indefi- 
nitely, if properly taken and stored. Fermentation and 
the consequent spoiling of honey should be avoided by 
making sure that all honey, when taken from the hive, is 
ripe. If it is allowed to remain in the hive until there 
is no doubt of its ripeness, there need be little fear of 
fermentation. This is said to be caused in some instances 
by the presence in the honey of pollen grains, but if the 
brood nests are properly managed, it is seldom that pollen 
will be found at all in the supers. 

When the heat in the brood chamber, generated by the 
bees, has extracted the superfluous water from the honey 
by evaporation, the sealing of the cells takes place, 
because the honey is then in a condition which the bee- 
keeper terms ripeness. 

On removing the super, it should be placed in a warm 
room, and if the work of extracting can be carried on at 

241 



242 CARE AND MARKETING OF HONEY 

once, while the honey is warm, it will be an advantage, as 
it will flow more freely than if allowed to get cold by 
standing a day or so in a cold room. 

The cappings, or cell covers, should be shaved off with 
a sharp knife, warmed by standing it in a pitcher of hot 
water, and if cut from the bottom with a sawlike motion, 
while the top of the frame is held forward, the cappings 
will remain in a sheet and fall into the pan held below. 

When the uncapped combs are put into the cages of 
the extractor, they should be so placed that the bottom 
bars go around first, for thus the honey is more easily 
thrown out as it leaves the cells in the direction of the 
pitch given them by the bees when they are building their 
combs. 

It is always advisable to return combs wet with honey 
in the evening, so that the excitement they cause may be 
over by the morning. Returning such combs at unsuit- 
able times, and placing scraps of comb about for the bees 
to clean, are undoubtedly the cause of much robbing. 

Before putting honey into kegs, place the kegs in a 
dry place, driving up the hoops occasionally. Through 
tin and glass no moisture can pass. The wood can be 
made a little like glass by paraffining it. Have your kegs 
hot by standing in the sun or otherwise; pour two or 
three pounds of hot paraffin into the keg, bung tight, roll 
the keg over and over, tipping it on each end, then knock 
out the bung and pour out the paraffin. 

If you have been lively about it, you will get most of 
your paraffin back, but a thin coating will be all over the 
inside surface. 

About the worst thing you can do is to have the wood 
of the keg soaked so the hoops are very tight before put- 
ting in the honey. The honey will suck all the moisture 
out of the staves, loosen the hoops, then ferment, and 
perhaps burst the keg. 

There are other things besides bees and hives needed 



CARE AND MARKETING OF HONEY 243 

in producing extracted honey. A honey house becomes 
a necessity, even when the apiary is very small, though of 
course if one has only a half-dozen colonies or so, a 
small room may be used in heu of a house specially built 
for the business, particularly v^hen comb or section honey 
is produced. 

Extracted honey production needs a larger equipment 
of tools and appliances than does comb, and needs more 
care and labor in getting it into proper shape for market. 
So far as the handling of the product is concerned, there 
is more labor in the extracted, but in the preliminary work 
or management of the bees, the comb takes both greater 
skill as an apiarist and more labor. 

Our attention in the future should be given more to' 
the practical management of bees, to reduce the labor 
and expense to the minimum. The more the work is 
simplified, the more we shall feel we are advancing. Bet- 
ter results are obtained from working for both comb and 
extracted honey, and it will be observed that there is a 
steady demand for each kind. 



Management the Key to Poultry Success 

Poultry dealers are learning to make money. Success 
is measured by the dollar standard in all commercial 
enterprises. Ducks and chickens are fed and housed, not 
for their beauty, but for their earning capacity. 

This fact will not be disputed, and it is clearly proven 
by the developments in the poultry industry. Capital is 
being invested quite freely and thousands of new plants, 
large and small, are being put on a business basis, so that 
they will return reasonable profits. No branch of busi- 
ness shows greater progress. 

One of the most successful poultry raisers in Illinois 
has only five acres of land. He keeps from 600 to 2,000 
chickens, and raises wheat and corn enough for them on 
about three acres. He buys the refuse from a hotel, pay- 
ing merely a nominal price. It may not be very profitable 
to feed chickens exclusively on corn worth 75 cents a 
bushel, but by providing a variety of cheaper food, the 
question of feeding becomes less serious. 

In order to get a good supply of eggs in the winter, 
conditions for the hens must be made as nearly like 
summer as possible. 

To do this, one thing necessary is plenty of green food 
for the hens to eat. There are various ways of supplying 
this. 

If there is a field of winter wheat, rye or alfalfa, where 
they can help themselves, the green-food problem is 
solved, when there is no snow on the ground and the 
weather is warm enough so that the hens can be out. 

During cold and stormy weather, when they are shut 

244 



MANAGEMENT THE KEY TO SUCCESS 245 

up in the houses, clover or alfalfa, cut into short lengths, 
is a good green food. The hens will eat them dry, but 
relish them much better if steamed. To steam, cut into 
short pieces and pack in a tub or bucket, pour as much 
boiling water over them as they will absorb, and cover 
tightly for thirty minutes before feeding. It may be fed 
either by itself or mixed with a mash. 

Sprouted oats are a good green food. To prepare 
them, soak the oats in warm water for twenty-four 
hours, then spread in shallow boxes and keep in a warm 
place. Keep them moist by sprinkling with warm water, 
and they will soon sprout. 

When the sprouts are about two inches long, cut the 
oats out in chunks and feed to the hens. They will eat 
with relish both the sprouts and the oats. 

Another way of furnishing green food is to feed vege- 
tables. Turnips, beets and mangles should be cut in 
halves and fed raw. Potatoes may be fed either raw or 
cooked and a little bran mixed with them. 

Cabbage heads should be hung up where the hens can 
pick them. Giving the hens regularly any one of these 
green foods will make a noticeable gain in the production 
of eggs, but of course the hens will relish a variety of 
green foods, as well as of grains. 

About thirty years ago, when poultry farming was 
young, as a business, a cry arose that it would not be long 
before there would be such a surplus of stock that prices 
would go tumbling; but notwithstanding that, there are 
ten successful plants today to every one thirty years ago, 
and the demand is not half reached! With the increase 
of supply came the increase of demand, and today we are 
no nearer meeting the demand than we ever were. 

However, there is a change in the market which must 
not be lost sight of. Almost anything in the poultry line 
sells, but the choice prices are alone given to the "fancy 
goods." 



246 MANAGEMENT THE KEY TO SUCCESS 

The word "fancy" implies more than appearance. It 
means also quality. Poultry and egg buyers are becom- 
ing particular, but they are willing to pay for their goods. 
If they want the brown eggs, they will not take white; 
and if they prefer the white, the brown ones offer no 
temptation. The market today demands choice, plump, 
fresh stock. Have you got it? If so, the market is wait- 
ing for you. 

We have today quite a number of breeds, and all, to a 
certain extent, are practical. But they will not any one 
of them fill all the purposes ; therefore, it is necessary for 
a man to select only such breeds as will best serve his 
customers. 

Of the entire list of breeds, none will meet the demands 
of Americans so satisfactorily as do the American varie- 
ties, and in this class the most popular are the Wyan- 
dottes, the Plymouth Rocks, with the Rhode Island Reds 
closely following; also our American strains of Light 
Brahmas and Leghorns. 

The Brahmas belong to the Asiatic class as a breed, 
but the Light Brahma, as bred by our people, is so 
different from that bred in England that one would 
hardly suppose them to be of the same family. This is 
also true of the Leghorns, which belong to the Mediter- 
ranean class. 

It will cost the farmer no more money to raise thor- 
oughbred poultry than it will to grow scrubs. The pure 
breeds will not only bring more money in the wholesale 
market but it is a fact that poorly graded poultry lose 
more heavily in shrinkage than do those that are of 
pure blood. Commission men say that there is a marked 
improvement in the quality of the poultry that now comes 
to the city markets, and say that this improvement has 
been influenced by buyers who collect poultry from farm- 
ers and ship it to market. 

The shippers can pay a higher price for a better quality 



MANAGEMENT THE KEY TO SUCCESS 247 

of poultry and then make more money, for the reason 
that they get better returns. 

Juiciness in broilers is due to pure food and rapid 
maturity. As a broiler cannot be secured on free range, 
and as it can attain the required weight in a given time 
only by a systematic feeding of pure foods, it carries with 
it a reputation and demand on account of its juiciness, 
tenderness and purity. 

At the Ontario Agricultural College, in a test with 
different rations for fattening poultry, a mixture of 2 
parts corn meal, 2 parts ground buckwheat and i part 
ground oats, with an equal weight of skim milk, gave a 
pound of gain for less than 3^ cents a pound. Four 
parts corn meal, 2 parts each buckwheat and ground oats, 
with an equal weight of milk, made the cost a trifle over 
4^ cents per pound ; while ground oats alone, with equal 
weight of milk, made the cost nearly 5 cents per pound. 
A very good fattening ration consists of 100 pounds of 
corn meal, 100 pounds of wheat middlings and 4 pounds 
of animal meal, with an equal weight of skimmed milk. 

If the fowls are confined in small pens and kept quiet, 
they will fatten much quicker. Give all they will eat 
three times a day, with plenty of pure water to drink. 
Separate the cockerels early from the pullets. In half an 
hour after feeding, remove the drinking and feeding ves- 
sels. Two weeks before marketing them, feed with corn 
and corn meal. Keep before them a box of sharp grit. 
There are two kinds of broilers or fries ; the smaller are 
known as squab broilers, weighing from three-fourths 
to one pound each. The demand for these is not great. 
The average broiler weighs from 2 to 3 pounds, and sells 
for from 20 cents to 50 cents per pound, according to the 
season of the year and the purchaser. During June and 
July the price falls rapidly, and at the end of July in 
the open market frequently falls to 12 or 15 cents per 
pound. In preparing fries for the market, when nearly 



248 MANAGEMENT THE KEY TO SUCCESS 

large enough, put them in a pen, having a shady run; 
give them fresh water twice a day and all the fattening 
food they can eat. Muscle and bone-making food for 
this class is not required ; therefore, feed corn in various 
forms — cooked corn, mashed corn, ground corn, whole 
corn, warm potatoes and bread crumbs, and any kind of 
milk. A little sugar and fat meat will help along the fat- 
tening process, and this should be concluded as fast as 
possible, for during these days the chicks will eat con- 
siderable, and unless they put on flesh rapidly, there will 
be no profit in raising them. 

There is already a fair demand for guinea fowls, espe- 
cially in New York and other cities in the eastern part of 
the United States, and this condition will soon obtain in 
all leading markets if present indications count for any- 
thing. As the demand for guinea meat increases, as a 
substitute for game or other birds and fowls, guineas 
ought to become a source of considerable profit to poultry 
raisers generally. Very young birds for broilers bring 
good prices early in the season, while the older fowls are 
readily salable throughout the autumn and winter. In 
recent years the varieties have been improved. The birds 
are good rangers, and do well with comparatively little 
care — even when young are hardy and healthy. 

The first thing to do in taking up poultry as a business 
is to find some breed adapted to the locality, then stock 
up with that breed and study it. Personality enters into 
the success of the poultry industry to a large extent. A 
man must be good-natured for one thing, and willing to 
give his time and patience to detail work. For these 
reasons a man who takes up this business for pleasure 
often succeeds much better than the man who goes into 
it for purely the money it brings him. Success in this 
business comes slowly. It must be built up. It requires 
patience, but when success does come, everything after 
that is easy and the profits are good. 



Winter Egg Production 

During the months of October, November and December 
of each year there is a scarcity of fresh eggs, and the 
prices, in consequence, go up. This scarcity is due to the 
molting period for old hens, the lack of early hatched 
pullets, and the general failure to so feed and manage 
chickens as to secure winter eggs. 

The utmost care should be taken to select early pullets. 
Those hatched in March and April may be depended on 
for a liberal egg supply from the time they are seven 
months old. The hatching should have winter egg pro- 
duction in view, and therefore it is important to select the 
eggs of fowls that are prolific layers and which have 
good constitutions. 

The great thing is to get the eggs during the months 
of November, December and January, and this can be 
done with early pullets. The older hens will not do much 
for a couple of months after molting, but will help out the 
supply after the turn of the year. The demand for 
strictly fresh eggs is so keen that prices remain high all 
winter. 

A poultry house should be so constructed that it can be 
opened during the day, that the warm sun and fresh air 
may disinfect it. An open front is the approved modern 
idea. It gives fresh air without draughts. The opening 
should have bars to keep out animals. The place needs 
to be large enough so that the scratching floor is apart 
from the nests and roosts. 

A common mistake with beginners is in having too 
many varieties. In their enthusiasm they cannot content 

249 



250 WINTER EGG PRODUCTION 

themselves with a single breed. They read what breeders 
of every variety have to say, taking in every word, and 
forgetting that these breeders have axes to grind. But 
the beginner is not long in seeing his mistake. He sooner 
or later cuts down to a single variety. 

Some, too, grow tired of the variety they have chosen, 
and are continually changing. That class of poultrymen 
hardly ever get beyond the hobby stage of the industry. 
Select a single variety, and stick to that. 

Inbreeding is another bugbear. There is nothing that 
will so quickly ruin stock as this. The house must be 
dry and free from lice ; the warmer the house the better, 
but there must be no draughts. 

Regular feeding is also an important point. Fowls 
soon learn to know when their feeding hour arrives, and 
will be in a more or less anxious state until they are fed. 
Have a bill of fare, and stick to it. But see that that bill 
of fare is composed of a variety. To endeavor to keep a 
flock on a grain diet will soon breed all sorts of trouble. 

Ground bone, sunflower and millet seed, culled potatoes, 
scrap meat, stale bread soaked in whey or skimmed milk, 
cabbage leaves, and all table leavings, are good food for 
fowls and help to form the needed variety. For a regular 
grain diet, wheat and corn are favored. If oats are fed, 
they should be chopped. A daily mash composed of bran, 
middlings, ground oats, linseed meal and boiled potatoes 
is excellent. It is best when moistened with milk, but it 
should not be sloppy. Grit and charcoal are needed at all 
times. Crushed oyster shells or bits of old mortar help to 
supply the lime that hens need. 

Some kind of green food is necessary for a large pro- 
duction of eggs, though it is not essential in fattening. If 
it is not easy to furnish a variety, a little alfalfa or clover 
hay will do nicely. Beets, turnips, carrots, potatoes and 
cabbage are easily supplied on any farm, and they are a 
valuable food, either boiled or raw. Give all the clean 



WINTER EGG PRODUCTION 251 

water the fowls will drink. It should be kept in vessels 
that they cannot upset. 

At night, feed corn and wheat, sometimes one, some- 
times both, enough to fill their crops. Now, this is the 
way I feed, but I do not guarantee it to produce eggs 
unless combined with some details of more or less impor- 
tance, and all directed by an intelligent interest that is 
quick to note and to provide for special conditions. 

The morning feed should be given early, for fowls are 
early risers, and should not be kept waiting for their 
breakfasts. It should not be necessary to say that the 
warm mash should not be thrown in a dirty or muddy 
place, but on planks or a firm, hard spot. Shallow 
troughs are better yet. Perhaps it is best to give the 
mash in the morning, while through the day the hens 
should be compelled to take exercise by hunting for grain 
in a litter of straw or hay. If they can be allowed the run 
of a barn through the day, it will help to keep them 
active. 

Hens dread the snow, and will not walk through it 
unless forced. Therefore, on snowy days, sweep a path 
from their house to the barn or shed where they can take 
their exercise. If you don't see to their daily exercise, the 
hens will stand around in their house, shivering and 
miserable, and the eggs will shrink. 

This is one of those details that good judgment should 
approve. It is impossible to enumerate them all. Elabo- 
rate directions are thrown away unless there be a critical 
and judicious eye to administer them. 

The amount of brain and muscle work used in the man- 
agement will give a proportionate profit, and of the two, 
brain work counts first in this, as in all work. 



Egg Type in Hens 

Many poultrymen claim there is an egg type in fowls, 
and that they can pick out the good layers as well as the 
poor ones in a flock. This claim is based on the theory 
that certain peculiarities of form or shape, such as long 
body, wedge shape, broad rear, small head, etc., indicate 
good laying qualities. 

A statement in the last United States census report of 
1900 reads : "It has been discovered that there are 600 
embryo eggs in the ovary of a hen. It has been further 
ascertained that two-thirds of this number can be secured 
in the first two years of the hen's life, provided suitable 
measures are employed." Concerning these statements, 
Prof. James Dryden writes : 

"One of our hens has already exceeded this limit, hav- 
ing laid 568 eggs the first three years, and to July 31 of 
the fourth year she had laid a total of 670 eggs, and was 
still laying, having till November i to complete that year. 
A Brown Leghorn hen has also exceeded the 600 limit, 
having laid up to the same date 628 eggs, with prospects 
of many more. 

"As to the other statement, that two-thirds of 600 eggs 
may be secured in the first two years, or 400 eggs, in our 
experience only one hen has reached it, having laid 442 
eggs in the first two years. Furthermore, no records have 
been reported from other stations of 400 eggs in two 
years. Three Barred Plymouth Rock hens of like age, 
and fed in the same pen, laid 145, 144 and 212 eggs, 
respectively, the same year, and 40, 116 and 181 the 
second year, one lacking seven eggs of making 400 the 

252 



EGG TYPE IN HENS 253 

first two years. This one has the wedge shape, is medium 
long in body, rather long in neck, with small head. She 
laid a small egg. 

"In view of the great variation in layers, the question 
as to whether there is an egg type becomes very impor- 
tant. If the good layers can be picked out of a flock by 
reason of some characteristic shape or form, the question 
of improvement becomes a simple matter. With a view to 
testing the theory held by many that there is such an egg 
type, Prof. Dryden sent a number of photographs of good 
and poor layers to poultry breeders and judges, whom he 
asked to pick out good and poor layers in a certain group, 
and give their reasons for the selection. Some of these 
gentlemen had expressed publicly their belief in the egg 
type theory. It may be, as some of the gentlemen pro- 
tested, hard to decide the question from photographs, but 
a side-view photograph should show if the hen has a long 
body and a wedge shape, the two points most relied upon 
by those who say they can pick out the good layers. It 
must be conceded, however, that the photograph does not 
offer the same opportunity for a critical study as the hen 
herself would. The replies received did not seem to offer 
much support to the theory. They showed a varied col- 
lection of guesses." 

Common-sense management means success and liberal 
cash returns ; indifferent methods of work result in fail- 
ure. Fowls must be kept healthy ; feed bills must not be 
allowed to equal the income, and there should be a con- 
stant weeding out of old and poor stock. Every summer 
and fall it is necessary to select the most vigorous and 
promising pullets for winter egg production, and these 
fowls need to be fed and managed with that end in view. 
They are not to have the same feeding and housing as 
birds that are being fitted for the poultry market. Unless 
owners are able and willing to give thorough attention to 



254 EGG TYPE IN HENS 

these details and bring their flocks up to proper condition, 
there is no profit in poultry. 

If a landowner has wheat, barley or rye, these grains 
may be substituted for corn and oats, but when it can be 
done without great expense or trouble, ground corn and 
oats should be the staples for fattening as well as for egg 
production. Do not feed whole oats at any time. After 
the fowls that are to be marketed are placed in the fatten- 
ing pens, it is essential to feed them regularly and abun- 
dantly three times a day. Clean water and grit should be 
constantly supplied. To the diet of grain and vegetables 
it is well to add a little scrap meat, with some fat. 

A greater variety of food is required for egg produc- 
tion. In addition to the grain rations mentioned, it is well 
to give such articles as millet seed and sunflower seed, 
with a regular supply of meat scraps and ground bone. 
Clover, cabbage and boiled vegetables of all kinds are 
valuable. Hens make use of old mortar and oyster shells 
and it is not difficult to supply such articles. Where a 
good deal of the food has to be purchased, it is feasible 
to procure stale bread at city bakeries. This is sold at a 
low figure. Table refuse obtained from hotels and res- 
taurants make a good diet in itself, but is improved by 
the addition of grain. Laying hens need exercise, and 
should be let out on every dry day, but never when it is 
wet. Their housing must be managed with intelligence 
and care. It is ruinous to have fowls on damp floors or 
in drafty rooms. Filth is equally dangerous. 

Many flocks of hens are totally ruined by lice and dis- 
ease. To keep them free of vermin, it is necessary to have 
dusting corners to which they can have access at any time, 
winter or summer. By using insect powders on the birds 
and washing roosts and walls with kerosene, lice can be 
conquered. Afterward the hens will not be troubled with 
them if there is plenty of dust at hand. Ordinary loose 



EGG TYPE IN HENS 255 

road dirt should be spread under the roosts once or twice 
a week. This will help to make valuable compost. 

Losses in the poultry yard are heavy enough in many 
cases to wipe out all possible profits. Chicken raisers who 
mean business will give intelligent care to their stock at 
all ages and in all seasons. The most common mistake is 
that of allowing young birds to run about on wet ground. 

Perhaps the reader has noticed that deaths are most 
frequent immediately after rain storms. Nearly all such 
fatalities are due to young chickens becoming chilled on 
wet ground. They are as sensitive as children, and are 
attacked with a variety of ailments in much the same way, 
if not kept dry and comfortable. 

In rainy weather see that the young flocks are kept in 
snug pens or houses where the floors can not become 
damp. Some warming foods are desirable. This kind of 
care is good for matured fowls, also. While houses need 
to be clean and warm, they must be ventilated. Do not 
allow drafts to hit the fowls. Ventilators should not be 
over the roosts. It is safest to have them low in the walls 
and some distance from the roosts. 

For real success and money-making from the flock, it 
is necessary to keep a close watch; to provide all com- 
forts ; to prevent disease by never allowing filth to accu- 
mulate; to keep the fowls busy, hence happy; to not 
overcrowd, and to give an everyday careful oversight. 
The comforts mean the right rations in plentiful supply, 
good housing, grit, charcoal and clean water. 

To the man who wishes to enter the poultry business 
at a small expense, I would advise stocking with a dozen 
hens of some good breed. It is well not to try to do 
much until the beginner has learned how to make a small 
flock pay. I find it profitable to market eggs where they 
must be guaranteed fresh, working up a good trade for 
the produce at a fair price. 



Preservation of Eggs Until Prices Advance 

In the production of eggs for market, farmers should 
aim to have them to sell in fall and winter, when prices 
are high. Extensive experiments with the use of water 
glass (sodium silicate) prove that spring and summer 
eggs may be kept in perfect order for months, with little 
trouble or expense. 

The fiscal supervisor of the State of New York, Charles 
Dennis McCarthy, has been following this plan in pro- 
viding eggs for various public institutions, and has saved 
a great deal of money. The eggs are purchased in the 
spring, when prices are low, and stored until winter, so 
that the state institutions avoid paying high prices. A 
year ago it was suggested to all institutions reporting to 
the fiscal supervisor to preserve eggs for use in the 
months when the market price is the highest — December, 
January and February — and a statement was enclosed to 
each institution, relating to preservation of eggs in water 
glass, furnished the department by the New York State 
College of Agriculture. A number of institutions acted 
upon the suggestion of the department and preserved a 
considerable number of eggs in liquid glass, which proved 
successful beyond expectation. 

Water glass provides an excellent means of preserving 
the surplus spring and summer eggs for fall and winter 
use. These eggs do not take the place of fresh laid ones 
for table use, but are satisfactory for all cooking 
purposes. 

Dilute the commercial "N" grade of water glass with 
nine times its amount of clear water. Keep this solution 

256 



PRESERVATION OF EGGS 257 

in tight earthen or wooden jars. Only fresh, clean eggs 
should be used. The level of the liquid should always be 
kept above that of the eggs by adding water as needed. 

For twelve dozen eggs, it requires a four-gallon jar, 
one and one-half pints of water glass and fourteen pints 
of water. 

In considering how to handle poultry for profit, does 
it not become plain that the overproduction of eggs in 
spring and summer is a serious mistake ? Eggs become so 
cheap at times that farmers cannot afford to haul them to 
market. There is a good profit in poultry, however, the 
year round, especially in broilers about 2 months old. 

Instead of allowing the overproduction of eggs to drive 
the market down to 8 or 10 cents a dozen, why not keep a 
big incubator running, hatching out chickens ? A broiler 
will bring 40 to 60 cents, three-fourths of this being net 
profit. Such farming is worth while. An ordinary sized 
poultry yard will clean up $1,000 a year if it receives a 
reasonable amount of attention, and only an acre or two 
of land is needed for the enterprise. It takes a great 
many acres to net $1,000 in regular farming. 

The selection of eggs for incubation is important. Do 
not use eggs for this purpose which have rough shells, or 
are unusually large or small. Hold the eggs before a 
strong light and look through them. If they have a 
matted appearance, they are not fit to produce strong 
chicks, and as a rule they are not fertile. 

Soft-shelled eggs will not produce strong chicks, be- 
cause in growing the chicks the lime from the shell pro- 
duces the bones and muscles. If the shell is weak, the 
chick will be weak also. Soiled or washed eggs should 
never be used for hatching. 

Eggs should be kept in a temperature of about 45 
degrees, if possible, and should never be kept where the 
wind can blow on them, or where the sun shines strongly. 



258 PRESERVATION OF EGGS 

If the draft is too strong, the eggs will dry down. If 
eggs are dried down before hatching, the chicks will be 
dried down, small and weak. 

Eggs for incubation should not be laid longer than a 
week. The older the egg, the lower the vitality of the 
chick. Usually the cellar is the best place for keeping 
eggs, for here the temperature is more even, and it is not 
too dry. 

The first two or three days after the setting of the incu- 
bator are vital. The heat should never get higher than 
I02 degrees; a little below will do no harm. For the 
first two days the eggs should not be turned, but there- 
after turn every morning and evening until the eighteenth 
day, when they should not be touched until all fertile eggs 
are hatched. 

Have both ventilation and moisture in hatching rooms. 
The cellar is usually about right where there is a floor, 
and if there is an outside entrance it should not remain 
open. 

Chicks hatched where there is moisture are stronger 
than dried-down, non-moisture ones. Do not allow strong 
sunlight or too much draft in the hatching room. 

The last few days, do not handle the eggs, and keep the 
temperature not higher than 105 degrees, nor below 103. 

Sometimes the chicks, after they are dried off, open 
their mouths and seem to want air ; then open some venti- 
lator or open the incubator door a little. 

In gathering eggs for incubation, give the hens enough 
good, clean food and exercise and clean quarters. They 
should have free range, if possible. Meat scraps, lime, 
milk, ground bone, oyster shells, wheat and bran mash 
are excellent for laying hens. Plenty of fresh, clean 
drinking water should be within reach. Green or cooked 
vegetables are also good for the health of the hen, and 
make healthy chicks. 



Favorite Breeds of Ducks 

Less disappointment will be experienced, perhaps, in 
raising ducks than any other line of poultry. Ducks grow 
into money fast, and this is the main consideration. They 
are less subject to disease than chickens, and make less 
trouble than either turkeys or geese. 

If possible, give them the range of a patch of clover, 
but if they have to be confined to a yard, let them have 
a swimming hole and a variety of greed food. Pekin 
ducks are in great favor, and are good layers, beginning 
in midwinter, and furnishing twelve to fifteen dozen 
eggs. 

The Indian Runner will lay at four and a half to five 
months old, if fed for that purpose. Some have been 
known to reach 250 eggs a year, but the general run is 
about 200. They are non-sitters, will lay ten months in 
the year, and are profitable because of their wonderful 
laying qualities. It does not require any more to feed 
them than it does to feed a flock of hens of the same 
number. 

Hatching by incubator is the best method, and the busi- 
ness ought to be in progress by March i. With this kind 
of planning, young Pekins can be furnished to customers 
from the middle of June till fall, and possibly the year 
round. The young ducks should be fed both for growth 
and quality. For one day after hatching no food is to be 
given. Then light 'rations of moistened bran and corn 
meal will do nicely. Heavy feeding is to be avoided at 
first. When spring opens and they begin to get free exer- 

259 



260 FAVORITE BREEDS OF DUCKS 

cise, they should have all the food that they will clean 
up. They also require a clean swimming hole or pond. 

Fatten them on clean, wholesome food, such as shorts, 
boiled potatoes, ground corn or oats. Ducks are in great 
demand when from two to four months old, if they have 
been carefully fed. They are as profitable at this age as 
later, for they are heavy feeders, and in fattening at the 
age of eight or ten months they eat a lot of grain. Not 
only is this the case, but at two or three months they com- 
mand from 25 to 35 cents a pound, against 18 to 20 when 
full grown. 

In fattening more mature ducks, whole corn or wheat 
may be fed to some extent. Boiled potatoes, carrots, beets 
and various other vegetables are excellent. Bran or shorts 
moistened with skimmed milk also makes an economical 
food. Articles of this kind save high-priced grain and 
answer the purpose nicely in fitting poultry for the 
market. 

For the flock that is to be kept for breeding purposes, 
more green food is necessary. Alfalfa, either whole or 
ground, and corn silage, are recommended, with one 
ration a day of wheat or corn. Always feed soft food in 
long troughs, and have plenty of them, to avoid crowding ; 
and when the meal is over, stand the troughs on end 
against the wall to keep them clean for the next meal. 

While ducks are the healthiest of domestic fowl, espe- 
cially if allowed considerable freedom in summer, they 
require clean and comfortable pens in winter, with a rea- 
sonable amount of room. It is bad policy to allow ducks 
or other fowl to be disturbed by live stock. The laying 
quarters at least should be free from noise and all other 
disturbances. 

The opportunity is at hand for money-making from 
ducks, as farmers are able to send dressed fowls to city 
customers by mail, so that the usual trouble and expense 
of marketing are eliminated. Fresh fowls may go daily 



FAVORITE BREEDS OF DUCKS 261 

or weekly to town people, without the necessity of driving 
to an express office. The postal wagons on all rural 
routes will collect such packages, and Uncle Sam does all 
the work of transporting and delivering. To make good 
profits, therefore, from poultry, there should be incu- 
bators going all the time, hatching either chickens or 
ducks, which will sell readily for meat at from two to 
six months of age. Such poultry meat is a great deli- 
cacy, and commands liberal prices. 

Pekin ducks at two months are worth rather more than 
chickens of the same age. Either class of birds will sell 
at 40 cents to 75 cents apiece, according to weight. Ducks 
eat more than chickens, and gain in weight proportion- 
ately. Ten to 15 cents is ample to allow for feeding a 
fowl up to two months of age. This allows a large profit. 
Birds fattened at six or seven months have consumed 15 
to 25 cents' worth of food, according to the advantages 
of raising or buying it. They are then worth $1 to $1.50 
each. There is more profit in meat than in eggs. 

In order to succeed with ducks, it is necessary to have 
eggs from strong, vigorous stock, and they must be fresh 
— not over one week old. Other duck eggs may be differ- 
ent, but the Pekin's eggs are worthless for hatching pur- 
poses when ten days old. 

Duck eggs, as a rule, require four weeks to hatch. 
They may be hatched with either incubators or hens. 
Only large hens are suitable. If an incubator is used, 
keep the temperature as near 103 degrees as possible, 
turning the eggs regularly twice a day. They should be 
allowed time to cool a little once each day until the 
twenty-sixth day, or two days before they are due to 
hatch. 

When ducks begin to pip the shells, the temperature 
may be allowed to rise to 104 or 105, but be careful not 
to let it go higher. Protect the ventilators from cold 
drafts, but don't shut out all the air. 



262 FAVORITE BREEDS OF DUCKS 

Don't bother the eggs while they are hatching, unless it 
it is absolutely necessary, because it lowers the tempera- 
ture every time the inner door is moved. Of course, in 
the mild weather it is safe enough, but even then the door 
should be kept closed as much as possible. If the little 
ducks do not come out shortly after they pip the shells, do 
not become alarmed. They do not come out as soon as 
chicks, as they require more time after breaking the shell. 
In this respect they are more like goslings. 

Sometimes they will break the shells twenty- four hours 
before they are ready to come out. But they seldom need 
any help. A duck egg presents a queer appearance at a 
certain stage of incubation, for when held before a 
bright light the shells appear to be nearly half empty. 

Don't throw the eggs away. They may all contain live 
ducklings. When the fowls hatch, they should not be 
taken from the incubator until they are thoroughly dried 
off and able to hold up their heads. Then they should be 
placed in a brooder or some place where they will be 
comfortable. If placed in a brooder, see that they have 
fresh air. Fresh air, however, is not essentially cold air. 

Have the brooder floor covered with some clean litter. 
Cut straw or hay is best. Don't use sawdust ; the young 
ducks will sometimes eat it. However, it is not necessary 
to keep ducklings in a brooder except at night, after they 
get a start. Even while they are very small, they seem to 
prefer sunshine in the daytime to the brooder heat. The 
Pekin ducklings soon outgrow the brooder. A number of 
duck houses should be provided, with dry floors and good 
ventilation. 

Green food is essential from the start. If there is 
plenty of grass in the yard, that will do, although they like 
it best when added to their grain food. Use green clover, 
green rye, cabbage, dandelions, onion tops, etc. Green 
oats are also good for this purpose. All should be cut 
small enough for growing ducks to eat with ease. 



Disease Injuring Turkey Raising Industry 

The turkey-raising industry has been almost destroyed by 
disease. Not only in New England but everywhere in 
this country the commercial production of the turkey has 
been reduced to small proportions. 

That dread disease known as blackhead is the cause, 
and as it is rapidly spreading throughout the country, it 
is a matter of serious concern, not only to professional 
breeders but to farmers as well. For some years previous 
to 1893 the poultrymen in New England complained that 
their young poults died in large numbers, and very few 
birds lived to be older than five or six months. Samuel 
Cushman, the poultryman at the Rhode Island Agricul- 
tural Station, gave the symptoms, described the conditions 
of the diseased organs, and suggested the communicable 
character of the ailment. He was the first man to call it 
blackhead in literature, a name used by the farmers for 
the reason that the heads of the turkeys became dark- 
colored. Other names for the disorder were "liver 
trouble," "spotted liver" and "cholera." A close observer 
is pretty sure to detect the ailment. 

Prof. Leon J. Cole and Philip B. Hadley, of the Rhode 
Island Station, assisted by William F. Kirkpatrick, have 
made an exhaustive study of the disease, and their find- 
ings have recently been published. The main features 
of the results of their investigation are as follows : Black- 
head, in whatever species of bird, presents three symp- 
toms which are invariable: First, diarrhoea at some 
stages of the disease; second, a condition of increasing 
languor or stupor and a disposition of the bird to keep 

263 



264 DISEASE INJURING TURKEY 

away from the flock ; third, loss of appetite and more or 
less prolonged emaciation. 

The first course which the disease may follow is seen 
in young birds, in what is commonly known as "white 
diarrhoea," frequently causing great mortality among 
poults from five days to three weeks old, although deaths 
may continue much beyond this period. In these cases, 
death is sometimes preceded by a period of a day or two 
of stupor, in which the bird remains by itself and refuses 
food. This acute form is more likely to attack the 
younger birds, and frequently causes the death of 90 per 
cent, and occasionally the entire flock will be wiped out. 

If the disease does not show until after the birds are 
three weeks old, it is likely to remain latent in them or 
change into a slowly progressive form which may not 
cause death for several months. In the typical chronic 
form, the birds often hold their own against the disease 
for a year or more, during which time emaciation gradu- 
ally increases. In these birds, the disease is ultimately 
fatal in the majority of cases. 

One of the most important features of this disease is 
that turkeys having a chronic form of the disease are 
especially susceptible to the effects of unfavorable con- 
ditions. Quick fattening of a flock of turkeys for the 
market, especially if the young birds are fed much corn, 
often brings about a marked increase in the mortality. 

The organism which causes blackhead is a minute para- 
site belonging to the lowest group of animal life, and is 
called a cocidium, and is akin to the parasites of hydro- 
phobia and malaria. The infection of the bird begins in 
taking up, along with food and water, some of the para- 
sites described. These may undergo a partial development 
before being taken into the body of the bird, and after 
entering the alimentary tract, where they liberate the orig- 
inal infecting elements. These are able to impart infection 



DISEASE INJURING TURKEY 265 

to other birds, which take up particles along with their 
food. The same organism has been found in guinea fowls, 
ducks, pheasants, quail, grouse, pigeons and sparrows. 

The chief danger lies in the fact that where domestic 
poultry is kept, the ground is contaminated and rendered 
unsuitable for the raising of turkeys. For this reason it is 
never safe to allow turkeys and other poultry to use the 
same yard. The investigators say that it cannot be 
doubted that the common English sparrow has dissemi- 
nated this disease throughout the country, and it is still 
carrying it from one locality to another. 

Poultrymen and farmers are advised not to waste their 
money on so-called remedies and cures for blackhead, 
but to follow the preventive measures indicated below : 

Protect the yards and flocks which may be infected 
with blackhead, by careful examination of all new stock, 
whether turkeys, fowls, geese or other domestic birds. 

Keep the turkeys on ground which is as fresh as can 
be obtained. Change the range at least every year or 
two, and, above all, keep them isolated from other 
poultry. 

In fattening birds for market, begin to increase the 
rations gradually. If birds show a loss of weight in suc- 
cessive weighings, there is no use to attempt to fatten 
them. Overfeeding does not cause blackhead, but it does 
frequently cause the sudden death of birds in which 
blackhead is present. 

When birds have died of blackhead, their bodies must 
be promptly burned or buried very deep, in order to pre- 
vent rats or other rodents from eating them and thus 
spreading the disease. In the early stages of acute cases 
of the disease, if the bird is isolated from the flock and 
placed in a dry, well ventilated location, free from drafts, 
and fed sparingly on soft, light food, with little corn, it 
will have a beneficial effect. 



Parasites Cause Heavy Poultry Losses 

Vermin are exceedingly destructive to poultry, and in 
many cases cause such heavy losses that the business 
becomes a failure. An unrelenting war against parasites 
is a necessary part of a farm program. 

Lice and other parasites increase very quickly in the 
v^arm w^eather, and we should get a start of them by 
exterminating the parent stock that has survived the win- 
ter. In this way, the work will be much easier, and more 
pleasantly done. The necessity for their extermination 
will be more plainly seen if we understand just how they 
affect the poultry. 

There are a great many different kinds of lice that 
attack the fowls, but we can consider them all under 
three classes, as they attack in the three different ways. 
These three classes are body lice, head lice and mites. The 
body lice are on all parts of the fowls' bodies, but more 
especially in the soft, fluffy feathers. They usually remain 
on the fowl, and they increase very rapidly. It has been 
estimated that within eight weeks one of the lice will have 
125,000 descendants. You will see from this how much 
easier it is for one to destroy these pests before they get 
well started in the spring. 

Body lice are not blood-suckers, but live on the roots 
of the feathers and scales of the skin, causing irritation. 
In getting rid of them, nothing equals a good insect pow- 
der. Hold the fowl by the legs, head down, and dust the 
powder into the feathers near the roots, rubbing it well 
into the feathers and skin with the hand. 

Head lice are true blood-suckers. With their long bills, 

266 



PARASITES CAUSE HEAVY LOSSES 267 

they puncture the skin and the blood vessels beneath. 
They are a constant drain on the health and strength of 
the adult fowls, fastening themselves on their heads and 
sucking the blood from a position over the brain. As the 
chicks are hatched, these lice leave the old hen and fasten 
on the chicks. If you pick up a droopy chick and examine 
its head, you are almost sure to find these lice fast by 
their bills, busily sucking the blood. You must look close, 
or you will mistake them for pinfeathers. They cause 
such extreme weakness that often the bodily organs are 
unable to perform their functions properly, and people 
think the chicks are dying of cholera or other diseases, 
when it is really the head lice that are killing them. To 
destroy these, rub some sweet oil or lard well into the 
feathers and skin on the heads of the chicks, and of the 
older fowls also. 

Mites are even worse than these others. They hide 
during the day in the cracks and crevices of the hen 
houses, especially about the roosts, and attack the fowls at 
night, after they have gone to roost. Mites are very small, 
and if you see them, you are likely to mistake them for 
dust, for they have that appearance. They, too, are 
blood-suckers, and rapidly deplete the health and strength 
of the fowl. To destroy them, a liquid is much better 
than a powder. Paint the roosts and spray the dropping- 
boards and walls with a preparation of crude carbolic 
acid and coal oil (kerosene), mixed half and half. 

There is another parasite belonging to this family, 
called the depluming mite. It usually appears in the 
spring and summer, and attacks the roots of the feathers, 
causing them to break off and leave a bare spot. 

The mite is quickly passed from fowl to fowl, and soon 
spreads through the entire flock. You will not see any- 
thing suspicious on the bare spots, but if you will pull out 
some of the feathers and examine the roots, you will see 
these mites. 



268 PARASITES CAUSE HEAVY LOSSES 

Spray the houses as for the other mites, and rub car- 
bolated vaseline into the roots of the feathers. It is also 
a good treatment to dip the fowls in a tea made from 
tobacco leaves. 

The stick-tight, or hen flea, is a great pest in some of 
the southern states. It generally attaches itself to the 
comb or wattles of the fowl, burying its head in the flesh. 
Sometimes they crowd around the eyes, and cause blind- 
ness until removed. They stick so tightly that they cannot 
be pulled out. Mix ten drops of carbolic acid and some 
sulphur with a teaspoonful of vaseline, to make a soft 
paste. Rub this well into the feathers and skin of the 
head and wattles of the fowls. 

The premises must be cleaned of the fleas also. Burn 
all litter and trash, and spray the ground, nests and houses 
with the coal oil and crude carbolic acid preparation. 

There is another parasite that causes the disease called 
scaly leg by boring under the skin of the feet and legs of 
the fowls. They cause a powderous secretion which 
enlarges the feet and legs of the fowl, giving them a 
rough, ugly appearance. Dip the feet and legs in coal oil, 
rubbing with the hand, and allowing it to soak well in. 

You cannot make a success of your poultry if they are 
troubled with lice. To be a good layer, a hen must be kept 
comfortable and happy. This is impossible if she is 
fretted and annoyed by these pests. Imagine a flock that 
fights head lice and body lice all day, with perhaps hen 
fleas and scaly leg in addition, going to roost at night, to 
be tortured by mites which swarm from the hiding places 
and cover them. These are apt to be the conditions in a 
dirty poultry house, where the filth is allowed to accumu- 
late under the roosts and in the corners. The fowls, with 
their vitality weakened and their strength sapped by these 
parasites, take cold easily, and quickly succumb to disease. 
They are always in poor health, although eating heartily ; 
and the poultryman finds that while his feed bill is no less, 



PARASITES CAUSE HEAVY LOSSES 269 

he gets no eggs, his poultry does not sell well because it 
is poor, and his young chicks die. Such a man says there 
is no profit in the poultry line, and indeed there is none 
for him. 

Cleanliness is one of the greatest aids in bettering this 
condition, for these parasites breed in the filth and dirt. 
Give the house a thorough cleaning. Burn the old litter 
and nests, scrape the floors clean, paint the roosts and nest 
boxes, and spray the walls and floor with crude carbolic 
acid and coal oil. 

Put insect powder on the fowls, grease their heads, and 
dip their feet and legs in coal oil. It will be time well 
invested. 

The hens will help you in this work of extermination, 
if you will see that they are kept supplied with a good 
dust bath. Mix ashes with the dirt for the bath. All this 
may seem like a great deal of trouble, but success is never 
attained in any business without painstaking care and 
faithful work. 

In the matter of diet, the first thing needed is water, 
and it must not be chilly. Some coarse, clean sand should 
be placed in the water each time, or in some shallow vessel 
near the feed or water. They need both grit and water 
while eating. 

Hens that have been confined closely for months, and 
have been laying in the winter months, or that are poorly 
fed, and are kept in dirty houses, where lice and mites 
prevail, cannot produce healthy eggs, and will produce 
only poor, weakly chicks. 



Poultry Diseases and Remedies 

When fowls are closely grouped or kept in filthy or 
draughty buildings there is apt to be a development and 
rapid spread of destructive ailments. Climatic changes, 
floor dampness and v^et grounds are severe on chickens. 
Attention to health and feeding will not only prevent 
losses but will bring profits. 

Usually the first symptom of tuberculosis noticed is 
emaciation, or "going light," accompanied often though 
not always with a pale appearance of the comb and wat- 
tles and the skin about the head. There is frequently, 
though not always, a persistent diarrhoea, the drop- 
pings appearing of a green or greenish-white color. 
Lameness in one or both legs may occur, due to infection 
of the joints. In the latter stages of the disease, the 
feathers become dry and ruffled, the bird becomes weak 
and mopy and moves but little. The eye is bright and 
the appetite is usually good throughout the sickness and 
the affected fowls may eat ravenously until a few days 
before death occurs. 

Probably the commonest method of spread of tuber- 
culosis from flock to flock is by the transfer of infected 
birds. A hen may be quite seriously affected without 
showing any external symptoms of the disease, and such 
an individual when introduced into a flock can serve as 
a source of infection for other fowls through the medium 
of the droppings. 

To guard against tuberculosis give the best care to all 
fowls that can reasonably be given. Keep their houses 
clean, well ventilated and free from draughts. Furnish 

270 



POULTRY DISEASES AND REMEDIES 271 

a regular supply and good variety of food. See that they 
exercise sufficiently and have a healthy, vigorous appear- 
ance. Use only sound stock for breeding, and try to 
select a line of birds possessing superior qualifications. 
This is the only way to handle poultry for success, and 
such management will ward off nearly all diseases. 

Asthemia, or "going light," has symptoms like tuber- 
culosis. If the owner of the flock is in doubt and cannot 
get an expert's opinion it will be safe to give quarter- 
grain doses of calomel three times a day in mash. In- 
stead of this castor oil may be given three times a day in 
tablespoonful doses. Two days of this treatment or a 
week of the calomel treatment ought to suffice for clear- 
ing out the bacteria, and afterward the food should be 
more than ordinarily stimulating. 

Cholera is first detected by noticing yellow excrement. 
This is a deadly infection and goes rapidly through a 
flock. Birds with cholera have a high fever and become 
thirsty. They soon become weak and in three or four 
days expire. When cholera gets into a flock the first 
move should be to separate the well from the sick. 
Thoroughly disinfect all buildings. A pound of sulphuric 
acid in fifty quarts of water makes a good disinfectant. 
For medicine a tablespoonful of carbolic acid for each 
quart of water in the drinking vessels may prove effica- 
cious. For flocks of any size the following cholera 
remedy should be procured as soon as possible after the 
disease appears: One ounce capsicum, one ounce asa- 
fetida, one ounce pulverized rhubarb, one ounce sulphur 
and three ounces Spanish brown. Mix and place in an 
air-tight can. Twice a day feed an ordinary warm mash 
in which there is a teaspoonful of the mixture for every 
quart of the food. 

When white diarrhoea appears the worst cases should 
be killed and burned, any seemingly affected removed 
from the well ones, the quarters cleaned and disinfected 



272 POULTRY DISEASES AND REMEDIES 

and a very little creolin given in the drinking water. Two 
drops of creolin in a teaspoonful of water is recommend- 
ed. However, a somewhat weakened solution will prove 
effective in slight cases. Another good remedy is to 
scald a cupful of sweet milk to which has been added 
a pinch of black pepper. Allow it to cool and give noth- 
ing else to drink until all of the birds have had a drink 
of it. 

When blackhead attacks a flock of turkeys the sick 
birds will have to be killed and burned and all buildings 
and feeding vessels disinfected. Turkeys exposed to the 
disease may be saved by giving them a few doses of 
pepper and ginger in sour milk or Dutch cheese. 

Gapes in chickens are caused by worms in the wind- 
pipe. These worms may be removed by using the tip of 
a feather which has been moistened with oil of cloves 
and sweet oil. Insert the feather in the windpipe, twist 
it around several times and then withdraw it. Clean 
and disinfect the premises. 

Roup is a common ailment among chickens, and re- 
sembles a severe cold in a human. A simple remedy is a 
little kerosene placed in the nose passages. Carbolic acid 
may be used in the same way — one part of the acid to 
fifty parts of water. Use the Douglas mixture in drink- 
ing water. This Douglas mixture is made as follows: 
One-half pound sulphate of iron, two ounces sulphuric 
acid and two gallons soft water. After this has been 
mixed let it settle overnight and then pour into bottles. 
Add a tablespoonful to each quart of drinking water. 
This is a good general tonic as well as a preventive of 
disease. 

Venetian red placed in drinking water is of great value 
in the poultry house. Use a tablespoonful of this powder 
in two quarts of drinking water. The water can be re- 
newed from day to day without using any more of the 



POULTRY DISEASES AND REMEDIES 273 

Venetian red until it has all disappeared from the bottom 
of the vessel. 

Owners of poultry must provide dust heaps and change 
the dirt as it seems necessary to do so, using a con- 
siderable amount of wood ashes with the dust if ob- 
tainable. Tobacco in nests and whitewash around build- 
ings help to destroy vermin. Put a little carbolic acid in 
the whitewash. An occasional fumigation with sulphur is 
good. There are efficacious insect powders for sale at 
drug stores. If lice are on the premises rub vaseline or 
lard on the heads and under the wings of young chickens 
as a preventive. This or insect powder should also be 
applied where vermin are observed on the birds. Keep 
buildings and yards as clean as possible, using consider- 
able slaked lime on floors and throughout the yard. 

Nor can there be success if poultry is so housed that 
the birds cannot escape taking cold, the common causes 
of which are dampness and draughts. The ordinary 
attacks of cold and influenza develop into various fatal 
diseases unless they are properly treated. Instead of 
using the roup remedy, as many do, owners of large 
flocks ought to keep on hand the following: Prepare a 
solution of two per cent permanganate of potash, by dis- 
solving two ounces of the permanganate crystals (bought 
at any drug store at about thirty cents per pound) in 
three quarts of water. Keep this solution ready, and 
when a bird shows the first signs of nose or throat trouble 
take enough of the solution to allow the head of the fowl 
to be submerged and put it under until the bird nearly 
chokes. Remove the bird's head from the liquid and 
allow it to sneeze and sputter, forcing the liquid into all 
the air passages. Repeat this three times before you let 
the bird go, and repeat it twice a day until the fowl no 
longer shows signs of disease. The operation is simple 
and in the majority of cases entirely sufficient. Potas- 



274 POULTRY DISEASES AND REMEDIES 

sium permanganate is an excellent disinfectant and can be 
given to the birds to drink with the result that many 
other cases will be warded off. When given in drinking 
water, only enough should be placed in the water to give 
it a claret color. The birds can be given water thus 
treated for three or four days at a time. No other water 
should be placed where they can get it, otherwise they 
will prefer the untreated water to that containing the 
drug. 

The greatest advantage that I see in raising chickens 
artificially is that the chicks can be kept free from lice 
from the moment they are hatched until they are full 
grown, provided the poultry raiser will exercise cleanly 
methods of management. By this means, the loss of 
chicks from lice can be reduced to nothing and the fowls 
will be stronger and healthier than when their blood is 
pumped out by parasites. The ordinary nest in which 
chickens are hatched under hens is usually so foul with 
parasites that chicks have small chance to live. 

In order to facilitate cleanliness in the poultry house 
and to greatly reduce the amount of filth, dropping boards 
should, by all means, be used. By using a little precau- 
tion in placing the dropping boards so as not to obstruct 
the light the entire floor space beneath can be utiHzed 
for a scratching floor. At least six inches should be 
allowed between the dropping boards and the roosts, the 
distance depending entirely upon the arrangement of the 
roosts. If the platform is made in sections it can be 
handled much more easily, as it is frequently found de- 
sirable to remove them in cleaning. Smooth boards are 
the most desirable to use. 

Poultry is subject to the same general laws of health 
as human beings are, and we should not overlook this 
fact in caring for them. Pure air, pure water and pure 
food, as well as thorough cleanliness, are all essential. 
The fowl's power to resist disease is due to these. 



Useful Hints for Everyday Farm Life 

Hens are helping to lift a good many mortgages now- 
adays. 



The lack of organic matter is the greatest trouble we 
have in the vineyard. 



The finer the soil the better the vegetables, both in 
quantity and quality. 



Dry air, good feed and plenty of exercise are neces- 
sary for winter eggs. 



Work the surface soil over after each rain, and thus 
retain all the moisture. 



Fowls need plenty of fresh, pure water. Thoroughly 
wash their dishes every day. 



As a rule, hens that lay steadily during cold weather 
are indifferent hot weather layers. 



Winter eggs do not come by chance. It takes planning 
and work to get them, but it pays. 



Make a hot bed and have some early plants ready to 
set out when the weather is warm enough. 



If you think of setting out an orchard and have had no 
experience, hire a good man to show you how. 

275 



276 USEFUL HINTS 

Vegetables delight in having warm, deep, rich and mel- 
low soil and will pay generously for the privilege. 



Saltpeter water — one ounce of saltpeter to a gallon of 
water — is a good spray for rust on bean vines and bushes. 



Some day we are going to find that as good a way as 
any to use the surplus sour milk is to give it to the hens. 



Three rules for success in gardening are: Freedom 
from weeds, thinning out, and keeping the ground mel- 
low. 



Do not forget that the fowls need green food. If a 
change of yards is not possible see that some is fed them 
daily. 



A few bad eggs in a case is sufficient to give the whole 
lot a bad name. Be careful that every egg is strictly 
fresh. 



Poultry raising offers to women an excellent means of 
making money because the work is not too taxing for their 
strength. 



Don't crowd the chicks. Give them room to exercise 
and grow in. See that they are kept comfortable and 
well fed. 



Much can be done to prolong the life of trees. Fill 
up the decayed places with cement after scraping out all 
the decay. 



The ground should never be allowed to become baked, 
as in this condition a great deal of moisture is lost un- 
necessarily. 



USEFUL HINTS 277 

Are there any old apple trees in your orchard bearing 
undesirable fruit? It is easy to graft good varieties 
upon them. 



Give the hens plenty of lime and charcoal. A dishful 
kept where they can help themselves is a valuable addition 
to the houses. 



Money can be made from small fruits. The area is de- 
creasing year by year, and this means the prices will keep 
getting better. 

Cultivation is a moisture conservator, but if the ground 
is dry, don't run the cultivator teeth deep. Keep the top 
soil stirred only. 



Keep an egg record and do not fail to make entries 
daily. The successful poultryman must be business-like 
in every respect. 



The poultryman who fails to keep an accurate account 
of his transactions is traveling over the road of uncer- 
tainty that leads to failure. 



It is poor economy to feed spoiled food to the poultry. 
They may contract disease or become poisoned. Burn all 
decomposed food stuff at once. 



The old family orchards are rapidly disappearing, so 
that in the future commercial orchardists will supply the 
rural as well as the city population. 



Truck crops suffer least from fungi in seasons that 
open with a cool spring and end with a very hot summer, 
with a rainfall below the average. 



278 USEFUL HINTS 

No more simple or efficient method for the improve- 
ment of the egg supply of the country could be adopted 
than the production of infertile eggs. 



We prune grapevines to produce larger and better 
fruit, maintain vigor, to keep vines within limits, and to 
cause ease of cultivation and spraying. 



It is useless to try to grow vegetables upon ground that 
is poorly drained. For this reason a clay loam with a 
goodly portion of sand is to be desired. 



It pays better to milk a four-gallon cow and sell her 
when dry for two cents a pound than to milk a two-gallon 
cow and sell her for four cents a pound. 



It would not be easy to find a fruit that can be more 
rapidly improved by careful selection, or run out more 
rapidly by careless handling than the tomato. 



Whey is a by-product of cheese, and possesses more 
or less feeding value when fed to swine in a judicious 
manner. Most feeders prefer to feed it sweet. 



Ducks are great feeders and they are also great grow- 
ers, so where does the loss come in? A few ducks will 
help keep the income up to the required standard. 



The farmer not prepared with woven wire fencing, 
with ample alfalfa or clover pastures, is not properly 
prepared for the economical production of pork. 



The fact that eggs are cheap at any season of the 
year does not lessen their value for the family table. 
Even when the price is high they are cheaper than meat. 



USEFUL HINTS 279 

When you have found for a certainty that a hen is un- 
profitable dispose of her at once. Some hens are never 
good layers but they eat as much as the best of the flock. 



Some farmers demand upon the table — at least once a 
week — a good old onion stew — to keep them healthy. 
The chickens will be all the better for just the same every 
week. 



Keep the poultry out of the barn. As well turn a pig 
into the parlor. Many men allow fowls to find their own 
quarters, and then they wonder why they are not a good 
investment. 



The best work that can be done for fowls in winter is 
to lay in a good supply of litter and dry dirt under shel- 
ter. It is scratching in the winter that keeps them in 
best laying condition. 



Don't confine ducks to one kind of feed. They like a 
variety. Cornbread is good for young ducks, but it is 
fattening, and the wisest thing is to mix it with oatmeal, 
bread crumbs or potatoes. 



Perhaps you have heard an undue commotion among 
the hens at roosting time. They were scrapping for the 
higher places, so build them on a level, and never have 
one placed over the other. 



If you have not found pork production profitable, buy 
some woven wire fencing and make a hog pasture in your 
alfalfa field where there will be shade and water, and no 
longer say it don't pay to keep hogs. 



The hens need plenty of shade. Keeping them exposed 
to the scorching rays of the sun is little short of cruelty. 



280 USEFUL HINTS 

A shelter can easily be rigged from old burlap or a few 
armfuls of fir boughs, if there is no natural shade. 



It often is your fault that hens get to eating eggs ; but 
after they do contract the habit, lay the axe at the root 
of the tree — in other words, stop the business, short off. 
Then change your bill of fare. Something is lacking in 
the feed. 



Vaccine is effective in guarding against hog cholera. 
The common vaccine is blood serum from the body of an 
immune hog. The double vaccine treatment is the use of 
virulent blood serum from the body of a hog in the last 
stages of cholera. 



It may be possible to have poultry live without any 
animal matter, but for profit and thrift it is necessary 
that they receive a certain per cent of meat in the daily 
bill of fare, especially when they are confined to runs, or 
to houses in winter. 



One reason why women usually succeed with poul- 
try is because they are considerate of the wants of the 
fowls. Women have more patience naturally than 
men, and it requires a great deal of patience to make 
a success of poultry raising. 

If farmers and others engaged in the production of 
eggs would market their male birds as soon as the hatch- 
ing season is over, a large saving would be made, as prac- 
tically every infertile egg would grade a first or second 
if clean and promptly marketed. 



The fact that dairymen have devoted more attention 
to other phases of their dairying than to the breeding and 
development of the cow is one of the reasons why so many 



USEFUL HINTS 281 

of our dairy herds are not capable of returning a profit 
from their food and cost of care. 



The average hen outHves her usefulness in two years 
and is more profitable sent to market. There are at times 
good hens in the third and even fourth year, but the 
average limit is two. Old hens are more likely to con- 
tract diseases than the younger ones. 



More chicks are killed every year by coarse food than 
in any other way. Their bowels are tender, so give food 
that will be easy to digest. Well-dried and crushed bread 
crumbs, lightly moistened, are as good as anything. Mix 
in a bit of fine-cut lettuce or onion. 



Pick grapes, if possible, during the heat of the day, for 
then the stems are less brittle and fewer berries will split 
and be torn from the branches. Never pick them after a 
rain and before the bunches have dried out, if you can 
avoid it, for that tends to cause the fruit to mold badly. 



Ten grains of nitrate of potash in a little milk (warm), 
three times each day will greatly assist in overcoming 
rheumatism in hogs. This dose is for the grown hog. 
If given to pigs or growing shoats, about three grains 
for each hundred pounds of live-weight will be sufficient. 



A large part of the heavy loss from bad eggs can be 
obviated by the production of infertile eggs. This has 
been demonstrated beyond a doubt by the investigations 
concerning the improvement of the farm egg which dur- 
ing the past two years have been conducted in the Middle 
West. 



It is an invariable rule that animals receiving proper 
care are much better able to resist disease than are those 



282 USEFUL HINTS 

which are poorly housed and improperly fed. Cleanli- 
ness is of first importance with all live stock. Next are 
clean water, a variety of wholesome food and com- 
fortable beds. 



Eggs contain all the elements necessary to supply the 
human body with nourishing food. This is not true of 
any other article of food. One-half of an egg is nutri- 
ment, while not more than one-fourth of meat is so ; thus 
it will be seen that one pound of eggs is equal, in food 
value, to two pounds of meat. 



Ireland is the greatest poultry growing country in the 
world. It is far ahead of France, though we have always 
adopted the latter as the leading country in this industry. 
Ireland, with a population of not quite 5,000,000, has 
14,000,000 fowls, while France with a population of seven 
times greater has only 40,000,000. 



When pigs are once afflicted with "bull nose" there is 
no cure. The disease may be arrested by smoking with 
camphor-gum. This is done by confining the animals 
in a tightly covered box, and placing a little camphor- 
gum on a red-hot stove-lid. They will inhale the fumes. 
The trouble is, no doubt, infectious. 



There is an insistent market demand for high-class 
horses, especially for draft horses, that cannot be sup- 
plied. On the other hand, the country is flooded with 
common ordinary "plug" horses. They do not fill any 
particular requirement or demand, hence the very low and 
profit-killing prices for which they must sell. 



Northern Minnesota is fast becoming a dairy section 
and the raising of hogs is receiving increased attention. 
Conditions that are favorable to the dairy industry are 



USEFUL HINTS 283 

favorable to hog raising. Clover that produces milk so 
abundantly produces meat equally well and the dairy 
farmer can produce no meat so profitably as pork. 



Hiccoughing in pigs is caused by a derangement of the 
stomach. One of the best ways to correct the trouble 
is to change the sow's ration, feeding less corn and more 
of such feed as ground oats and bran. If the trouble does 
not cease, give each pig eight drops of tincture of 
asafoetida twice a day till the hiccoughing ceases. 



For colic in horses : Chloroform, one ounce ; laudanum, 
eight ounces; sulphuric ether, two ounces; Jamaica 
ginger, eight ounces; raw linseed-oil, two pounds. Mix 
well and divide into ten doses and give one each hour 
until relief comes. This remedy is used at the fire sta- 
tions in a number of the cities, and has rarely been known 
to fail. 



A successful sheep grower writes : "I have found that 
the great trouble with most sheep-dips is, they are too 
strong, and cause irritation of the flesh. For each lo 
sheep I use only one-fourth pound of plug-tobacco. This 
I boil in about 30 gallons of water, and dip the sheep 
therein as soon as cool. I make an application once each 
week until the trouble is overcome." 



As a stock food we have found buttermilk better 
adapted for pigs than for any other animals; but would 
not advise feeding it to very young pigs. As a feed for 
swine our experience has led us to believe that it has 
about the same feeding value as skim-milk. We would, 
however, prefer skim-milk on account of its being less 
liable to derange the animal's digestive system. 

The following is an excellent remedy for a cough that 
follows distemper in horses: Granulated sugar, one 



284 USEFUL HINTS 

pound, in which mix powdered chlorate of potash, eight 
ounces, and powdered lobelia, two ounces. Mix well to- 
gether, place a teaspoonful in the feed-box before feed- 
ing, and place the grain-feed on top of it, or, if you are 
feeding meal mixed with the hay, mix it with the ration. 



For the first twenty- four hours to thirty-six hours after 
they leave the shell little chicks want warmth sufficient 
for comfort, fresh air to breathe and a chance to sleep 
without being disturbed. When they are sufficiently 
rested and thoroughly dried out and fluffy, stand strong 
on their legs and begin to persistently make the ''hungry 
cry," they are ready to go to brood coop or brooder for 
their first feed. 



It will surprise most dairymen to learn that carefully 
kept cows are given four ounces of salt each, daily, mixed 
with their feed. They eat their food better, and the 
owner thinks they do better when given this amount than 
when the allowance is smaller. The cows are fed three 
times a day, and the salt is divided between the three 
feeds. Fine table salt is invariably used ; the cows prefer 
it to coarse salt. 



A hog coming down with cholera is sluggish and re- 
fuses food. The eyes are inflamed and the hair be- 
comes rough. A cough and weakness are other symp- 
toms. An inexperienced owner needs the help of an ex- 
pert in such cases. Veterinarians usually know how to 
procure and use the serum, and it is best to employ 
them if they can be reached. Nearly all states have pub- 
lic veterinarians 



The guinea fowl is a native of warm countries and 
has a natural fear of snow, so when guineas are caught 



USEFUL HINTS 285 

out in a storm there is a good chance for trouble if we 
undertake to force them to walk through snow to the 
poultry house. The guineas will take to flight rather than 
wade in snow and rather than light on the ground when 
covered with snow they will alight in trees, or if there 
are no trees they will light on the tops of buildings. 



Many times a severe cough in a horse can be cor- 
rected by the use of the following remedy: Nitrate of 
potash, three drachms; tartarized antimony, one drachm; 
powdered digitalis, three- fourths drachm; camphor, three 
drachms. Mix well, divide into two equal parts, and 
make each into a ball with a little raw linseed-oil. Give 
one dose in the morning and the other in the evening. 
Continue each alternate day until relief is noticed. 



To rid swine of worms, give one dose made up of 4 
tablespoonfuls of oil of turpentine, one-half teaspoonful 
of liquor of erri dialysatus and 6 ounces of raw linseed 
oil. This is suitable for an animal weighing 100 to 150 
pounds ; for larger or smaller stock change the dose. Re- 
peat in four days if necessary. Kidney worms are not 
directly reached by any known remedy, but the treat- 
ment and management outlined above will have a good 
effect. 



One of the best methods to take care of the steel plow 
is to grease the mold board, share and land slide just as 
soon as the plowing is done. Leaving a highly polished 
surface exposed to the weather for one night starts a rust. 
Paint must be scraped off with some sharp instrument, 
while grease can be wiped off with a cloth, or not infre- 
quently the farmer can hitch to the plow without touch- 
ing the share, the dirt pushing off the grease. Paint is 
a good preservative of wood, but should not be applied 
to metal which has wearing or bearing surfaces. 



286 USEFUL HINTS 

People ought to know that the very best thing they can 
do is to eat apples just before retiring for the night. Per- 
sons uninitiated in the mysteries of the fruit are liable to 
throw up their hands in horror at the visions of dys- 
pepsia which such a suggestion may summon up, but 
harm can seldom come by the slow eating of ripe and 
juicy apples before going to bed. The apple is excel- 
lent brain food because it has more phosphoric acid in 
easily digested shape than any other fruit. 



The first step in determining the freshness of an egg 
is to know that the hen that laid it was not mated while 
the egg was in the oviduct ; to be sure about this, separate 
from laying hens all male birds at the close of breeding 
season. Each egg should be candled. In candling, a 
fresh egg appears unclouded, almost translucent; if in- 
cubation has begun, a dark spot is visible. A rotten egg 
appears dark colored. A settled egg is one in which the 
yoke appears attached to one side of the shell. With in- 
terested observation one may become expert in selecting 
fresh eggs in a short time. 



Wean pigs when eight to ten weeks old. After wean- 
ing, feed the following ration: Soaked corn, two parts; 
barley, two parts ; middlings, two parts ; meat meal, one- 
half part, and roots in liberal quantities. When the 
weather becomes cold feed dry corn and barley. Make 
a thick slop of middlings, meat meal and water, but use 
milk instead of water if you have it. The farmers of 
the United States have not yet appreciated the value 
of roots, such as mangels and sugar beets. Next year 
try an acre; you will grow more afterwards. For pigs 
they should be cut up with a pulper. The chief value 
of roots lies in their succulence. They are a substitute 
for grass. 



USEFUL HINTS 287 

To develop a laying strain of hens a fancier says that 
owners must not keep fowls in large flocks ; not over 
fifteen to the flock, and each of these must be known 
individually by toe marks, leg bands and trap nests. He 
says that the hen which often gets broody is most often 
the hen that lays most eggs, if you break her up im- 
mediately she gets broody. The laying hen carries a 
business air that soon shows her worth. The laying 
strain must be pure-bred ; the male of this strain and for 
this strain must have comb well developed and large for 
his breed, and be an early and persistent crower, both 
showing extra good development. 



Speaking of lumpy jaws in cattle, G. G. Graham says: 
"The most satisfactory way is to remove the growth 
with the knife when in the tissues only. The animal is 
thrown; the head then held in a favorable position, the 
skin is cut over the tumor, and the swelling removed 
by cutting around it in the healthy tissues." If 
hemorrhage is large the vessel may be tied or taken up 
with the forceps ; bleeding from smaller vessels may be 
seared with a red-hot iron. The wound should be washed 
with an antiseptic in i per cent solution after the tumor 
is removed, and then packed with antiseptic gauze or 
cotton, and the wound stitched up. The next day remove 
the stitches, and treat as an open wound. 



When the goose becomes broody, if I wish her to lay 
another litter I shut her up a few days, and in the 
course of two weeks she will generally commence laying 
again. If I wish to set her on the first litter I give her 
not more than 15 eggs. At the same time I replenish 
the nest with straw, and then keep away. If she has free 
range and plenty of water, she will need no other care. 
In about 30 days she will come off with the goslings. 
These I keep close at hand for a few days, until they get 



288 USEFUL HINTS 

strong, but allow them to nip the tender grass at will. A 
shallow dish of water is given them to drink from. They 
are kept out of rains until they are well feathered. I 
feed a little cracked corn at night to coax them home. 



The amateur farmer does not need expert advice to en- 
able him to keep his hogs in clean yards and buildings. 
Without much scientific knowledge he can see the wisdom 
of allowing them to range in grass or clover. They need 
a change of pasture and grounds now and again. It takes 
only a little systematic effort to provide clean troughs 
and fresh water. A shed is needed for shade in summer 
unless there are trees, and winter pens and yards should 
be kept in a sanitary condition. All these things count 
largely in warding off disease and in making a good 
quality of pork. The charcoal and wood ashes which are 
valuable aids to the health of swine, will help to a great 
extent in warding off cholera. Corn given in a green 
stage is one of the causes of cholera and this kind of 
feeding should be avoided. 



Sheep are easier to winter than any other stock. That 
is, of course, providing they have sufficient shelter and 
plenty of fresh water. The barn in which I keep my 
sheep is completely inclosed, and as warm and tight as 
any of the buildings for the rest of the stock. It has 
plenty of windows, and openings in the windows for 
ventilation. I feed timothy or upland hay at night, and 
straw liberally during the day, with a little ground oats 
and shorts, mixed, in the morning. My feed racks are 
built a foot from the floor. They are a foot wide at the 
bottom, 2^ feet high and 2 feet wide at the top. The 
sides are made of boards 8 inches wide and 6 inches apart 
up and down. Besides a system of window ventilation, 
I have ventilators in the roof, so that I am sure at all 
times of the sheep having plenty of fresh air. 



USEFUL HINTS 289 

At the Missouri Station bone meal was fed with corn 
to hogs in a fattening test with very good results. About 
an ounce of the meal was fed to each hog per day. At 
the Nebraska Station four lots of pigs were fed to de- 
termine the value of wheat shorts, tankage and steamed 
ground bone, as supplements to corn meal. These hogs 
were pastured on alfalfa, and for this reason the lot fed 
on corn alone made about as satisfactory gain as any, 
although the lot which was fed bone meal in addition to 
the corn had the strongest bone. Shorts strengthened the 
bones some, and tankage with corn produced much 
stronger bone than corn alone. Where mixed grain ra- 
tions are given, or skim milk or good pasture, all of 
which supply ash material, it is doubtful whether bone 
meal is of much value other than for the purpose of 
strengthening the bones. 



Measles are common with small pigs. Since it is a 
contagion, it spreads very rapidly when once there is 
an outbreak in the herd. Some of its more common 
symptoms are coughing and sneezing. The eyes are red 
and watery, and there is generally a discharge from 
the nose. The appetite is generally impaired, and there 
is a desire to remain in the nest or bed. On the fourth or 
fifth day a red rash appears on the skin, first in small 
pimples and later in large spots, which rise above the sur- 
rounding surface of the skin. The elevations are the 
same on infected pigs whose skins are white as on the 
dark-skinned animals. The pig should have a dry bed in 
which to sleep. Perhaps the most simple remedy is a 
half pint of boiled flaxseed with the soft feed, once each 
day. Ten grains of nitrate of potash in the drinking 
water is also good. 



Many experts claim that the open-front house will give 
the best results in ventilation, although it seems hard to 



290 USEFUL HINTS 

convince the average poultry owner of this fact, in spite 
of the proof in the operation of the same by some of the 
largest commercial plants in the country. With the north, 
east and west side bottle-tight, the south side open from 
two to three feet from the door, so that no drafts will hit 
the fowls and with muslin curtains to lower on stormy 
da3^s, there is no need of ventilators. This type of ventila- 
tion is fast coming to the front as the most practical. A 
house sixteen feet wide and eight feet high in the front, 
which faces the south, or as near south as possible, and 
five feet high in the rear, allowing the sun to reach the 
back sill of the sixteen-foot floor some time during the 
day, offers ideal conditions. With such a house, properly 
managed, there will be no colds or roup to cause failure. 



Special thermometers fixed in the ground a few inches 
deep show that an orchard cover crop keeps the soil 
several degrees warmer than a bare soil close by, in an 
experiment now going on at Indiana Agricultural Col- 
lege. It is also being found that there is more moisture 
under the crop than there is where no crop has grown. 
Rye, millet, wheat, rape, crimson clover, soy beans, cow- 
peas and vetch have been planted over different orchard 
acres to see which gives best results for the cost of plant- 
ing, which, if any, is most practical. So far vetch has 
given excellent results but the seed is pretty expensive. 
Cowpeas will not grow unless they are put in early, in 
an average year. Rape grows well after frost, and seems 
to be a good practicable crop. Millet, because it is inex- 
pensive to put in, is considered one of the most practica- 
ble. Chickens, calves and pigs may be pastured safely in 
the orchard, but other stock are liable to injure the trees. 



Dates for Planting Vegetables 

Asparagus. Plant between 20th of March and 15th of 
April, according to locality and season. Plant in trenches 
with rich soil, placing roots three feet apart. 

Beans, Lima. Plant April 10th to 25th. Plant 2 inches 
deep, 6 inches apart, in rows 2 feet apart. This is for bush 
beans. For pole crop set poles 4 feet apart and plant 5 
beans to each pole. Pinch off when vines reach top of poles. 

Beans, String. Plant 1st to 15th of April, in rows 2 inches 
deep, about 4 inches apart in row. Plant frequently a few 
at a time to extend crop over the season. 

Beets. Plant April 1st to 15th, placing seed thinly in drill 
1 inch deep. Thin out as needed. 

Cabbage. Set plants May 1st to 15th. Can buy plants 
as needed or start seed indoors a month earlier. 

Cauliflower. Plant early in May. Buy plants or start 
seed indoors. 

Carrots. Plant April 1st, thinly, J^ inch deep in rows. 
Thin out as needed by pulling largest. 

Celery. Plant seed in hot-bed during early spring; trans- 
plant when season is well advanced. Plants can be set out 
in July or August for fall and winter use. 

Corn. Early and late varieties can be planted beginning 
about the middle of April, the later kind up to the middle 
of July. 

Cucumbers. Plant April 20th to May 1st, in hills 4 feet 
apart, a number of seeds in each hill. 

Eggplant. Plant any time in May, according to weather, 
plants 2 feet apart. 

291 



292 DATES FOR PLANTING VEGETABLES 

Lettuce. Plant early varieties about April 1st, and late 
about July 1st to August 1st, and pick as required for table 
or market. 

Melons. May 1st to 15th. Plant in hills 4 feet apart each 
way, 12 seeds to hill. Thin to 2 vines to hill. To check 
striped beetle cover each hill with box cheesecloth top, or 
plant radishes with melon seeds. To guard against insects 
spray with arsenate of lead every two weeks. Pinch vines 
back when 3 feet long. 

Onions. About April 1st. Plant sets 2 inches deep in 
rows 2 feet apart. 

Parsley. April 10th to 20th. Soak seeds, cover lightly 
with soil. 

Parsnips, April 1st to 15th. Scatter seeds thinly in rows. 

Peas. Early varieties about April 1st. Scatter manure 
in trench, sow peas directly on this and cover 3 inches deep. 
Plant late crop June 15th to July 1st. 

Pumpkin. Plant May 15th in hills 6 feet apart. 

Radishes. April 1st and every 2 weeks, planting seed Yz 
inch deep. 

Spinach. Plant about April 1st, 1 inch deep, rows V/z 
feet apart. 

Squash. Plant early in May in hills 4 feet apart, 12 seeds 
to hill. 

Tomatoes. Plant early in May, setting plants 3 feet apart. 
Pinch back to 1 stalk; tie to stake or trellis. 

Turnips. April 1st to 15th. Plant seed Yz inch deep. 



Insecticides and Fungicides 

Approximate Cost Is Given 
Ant Exterminator. A powder. 25 cts., 50 cts. and $1.00. 

Aphine. The insecticide that kills plant lice of every de- 
scription; a strong nicotine extract. 1 qt., $1,00; 1 gal., $2.50. 

Aphis Punk, A nicotine paper. For fumigating. Box, 
60 cts.; 12 boxes, $6.50. 

Arsenate of Lead. For elm-leaf beetle and caterpillars. 
1 lb., 25 cts.; 5 lbs., 90 cts.; 10 lbs., $1.65; 25 lbs., $3.75; 100 
lbs., $14.00. 1 oz. to 1 gallon of water. 

Bordeaux — Arsenate of Lead Mixture. A combined 
fungicide and insecticide. For plants, trees and shrubbery. 
Three ozs. to 1 gal. of water. Apply as a spray. 1 lb., 15 
cts.; 2 lbs., 26 cts.; 5 lbs., 60 cts.; 10 lbs., $1.15; 20 lbs., $2.15; 
50 lbs., $5.12; 1000 lbs., $10.00. 

Bordeaux Mixture Paste. The supreme remedy against 
fungus, rust and all kinds of rot. Five ozs. to 1 gal. of water 
is standard strength. 1 lb., 11 cts.; 2 lbs., 18 cts.; 5 lbs., 40 
cts.; 10 lbs., 75 cts.; 20 lbs., $1.35; 50 lbs., $3.12. 

Bordeaux Mixture (Liquid). By simply adding water and 
stirring it is ready for use. 1 qt., 40 cts.; 1 gal., $1.00; 5 gals., 
$4.50. One gallon will make one barrel of liquid. 

Bordeaux Mixture (Dry). For dusting plants affected 
with mildew and all fungous diseases. 1-lb. box, 20 cts.; 
makes 5 gallons spray; 5-lb. box, 90 cts. 

Copper Sulphate. For early spraying and making Bor- 
deaux. Lb., 15 cts.; 10 lbs., $1.25; 25 cts., $2.25. 

Kerosene Emulsion (Concentrated, Liquid). For plant 
lice and aphis. 1 qt., 40 cts.; 1 gal., $1.00; 5 gals., $4.50. 

Kerosene Emulsion (Paste). Used as a summer wash 
against scale, plant lice and aphis. Ready for use by simply 
adding water. 1-lb. can, 15 cts.; 5-lb. can, 60 cts.; 25-lb. can, 
$2.50. 

293 



294 INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES 

Lemon Oil. For all insects and soft scale; one of the best- 
known Insecticides. % pt., 25 cts.; pt., 40 cts.; qt., 75 cts.; 
y2 gal., $1.25; gal., $2.00; 5 gals., $9.00. 

Lime Sulphur Solution. A perfect scale and fungus 
destroyer; special for plum and peach trees, which need fall 
and spring treatment; cures peach leaf curl. Use during dor- 
mant period. Protect the hands with gloves when applying. 
Dilute with 10 parts of water. 1 gal., 75 cts.; 5 gals., $2.25; 
10 gals., $3.75; half-bbls., $6.00; bbls. of 50 gals., $10.00. 

Nicoticide. Fumigating compound. 1 pt., $2.50; % pt. 
$1.25; 4 ozs., 70 cts.; vaporizing apparatus, 50 cts. 

Nikoteen. An economical and powerful nicotine extract. 
One part to 600 of water is sufficiently strong to kill all in- 
sects except scale, for which use 1 to 400. Pt. bottle, $1.50. 

Pruning Compound. A specially prepared thick paint, 
with a rubbery, elastic film. Just the thing to use after 
pruning trees. 1 qt., 40 cts.; 1 gal., $1.20. 

Rat Corn. Sure death to rats and mice. A new scientific 
discovery; not poisonous to other animals. 25 cts., 50 cts. 
and $1.00 size cans. 

Scalecide. Recommended for scale as a winter spray. Di- 
lute 1 gal. to 20 gals, of water. 1 gal., $1.00; 5 gals., $3.25; 
bbl., 50 gals., $25.00. 

Slug Shot. One of the cheapest and best powders for 
destroying insects. 1-lb. carton, 15 cts.; 5 lbs., 30 cts.; 25 
lbs., $1.40; 50 lbs., $2.75; 100 lbs., $5.00. 

Soluble Oil. An excellent scale remedy. Specially good 
for lawn trees and hedges, as it will not stain. Mixes per- 
fectly with water. Use during dormant period. Dilute with 
15 to 20 parts of water. 1 gal., $1.00; 5 gals., $3.65; 10 gals., 
$6.65; half bbl., 60 cts. per gal.; bbl. of 50 gals., 50 cts per gal. 

Sulphur, Powdered. For mildew. 1 lb., 10 cts.; 5 lbs., 40 
cts.; 10 lbs., 60 cts.; 50 lbs., $2.50; 100 lbs., $4.00. 

Tobacco Dust. 1 lb., 10 cts.; 5 lbs., 25 cts.; 100 lbs., $3.50. 

Tobacco Soap. For plants, trees, cattle and all insect in- 
fested animals. V2 lb., 25 cts.; 10 lbs., bulk, $3.00. 

Tree Tanglefoot. (Caterpillar Paste.) A remedy against 
caterpillars and all tree-climbing insects. 1 lb., 30 cts.; 3 lbs., 
85 cts.; 10 lbs., $2.65; 20 lbs., $4.80. 



Fertilizers for Farm and Garden 

Approximate Cost Is Given 

Animal Base and Potash Compound. For all crops. Su- 
perior for broadcasting in spring prior to harrowing. 2 per 
cent, ammonia, 8 per cent. Av. Ph. Acid, 2 per cent, potash. 
Per sack, 200 lbs., $3.00; per ton, $23.50. 

Bone Flour. Ground fine; excellent for pot plants or beds 
where an immediate effect is wanted. 5 lbs., 25 cts.; 100 
lbs., $2.50; bbl. of 200 lbs., 4.50; ton, $40.00. 

Pure Bone Meal. A standard fertilizer for all purposes, 
safe and effective. 3 lbs., 15 cts.; 5 lbs., 25 cts.; 25 lbs., 75 
cts.; 50 lbs., $1.25; 100 lbs., $2.00; 200 lb. sack, $3.50; per 
ton, $33.00. 

Ground Bone. A little coarser than above; excellent for 
grass plots, gardens, etc. Apply 400 to 600 lbs. to the acre. 
5 lbs., 25 cts.; 25 lbs., 75 cts.; 50 lbs., $1.25; 100 lbs., $2.00; 
sack of 200 lbs., $3.50; per ton, $33.00. 

Coarse Bone. Ground coarse, for grape borders and 
poultry. A superior fertilizer to use when planting shrub- 
bery and trees. 5 lbs., 25 cts.; 50 lbs., $1.25; 100 lbs., $2.25; 
200-lb. sack, $4.00; per ton, $35.00. 

Fine Ground Bone. Contains 3 per cent, ammonia, 16 per 
cent, phosphoric acid. 100 lbs., $1.75; 200-lb. sack, $3.25; per 
ton, $30.00. 

Cattle Manure, Shredded. For garden, lawn and green- 
house, and especially good to mix with compost and for 
water lilies. 100 lbs., $2.00; 500 lbs., $9.00; 1,000 lbs., $16.00; 
per ton, $30.00. 

Hard-wood Ashes. Indispensable as a lawn dressing, or 
to apply to orchards. Should be applied late in fall or 
early spring at the rate of 1000 to 1500 lbs. per acre. 5 lbs., 
20 cts.; 10 lbs., 35 cts.; 25 lbs., 60 cts.; 100 lbs., $1.50; per bbl., 
$2.50; per ton, $22.00. 

Kainit (German Potash Salt.) Analysis: 12 per cent, 
actual potash. Excellent to apply in fall or winter on lawns 
or vegetable garden. Apply at the rate of 1000 lbs. per 
acre. 100 lbs., $1.25; 200 lbs., $2.00; per ton, $15.00. 

295 



296 FERTILIZERS FOR FARM AND GARDEN 

Land Plaster. Much used in composting or mixed with 
guano, etc. 100-lb. bag, $1.00; 200-lb. bag, $1.50; per ton, 
$10.00. 

Muriate of Potash. 80 per cent, pure, equivalent to 48 to 
50 per cent, actual potash. A high grade fertilizer, and one 
of the best orchard fertilizers known. 25 lbs., $1.00; 50 
lbs., $1.75; 100 lbs., $3.00. Original sacks of 200 lbs., $5.50. 

Nitrate of Soda. A fertilizer for all crops. It is very- 
quick in action and hastens maturity of crops fully two 
weeks. Being quickly soluble, it should not be applied until 
the plants are above ground, when 200 to 300 lbs. mixed 
with land plaster is sufficient per acre. Nitrate of Soda does 
not exhaust the land. 5 lbs., 25 cts.; 25 lbs., $1.25; 50 lbs., 
$2.00; 100 lbs., $3.50. Large quantities, prices on application. 

Peruvian Guano Substitute. For potatoes and all vege- 
tables. Since it is difficult to procure pure Peruvian Guano, 
we recommend this bfand as a good, all-round fertilizer. 5 
per cent, ammonia, 6 per cent, available phosphoric acid, 7 
per cent, potash. 50 lbs., $1.50; 100 lbs., $2.50; sack of 200 
lbs., $4.00; ton, $36.00. 

Potato Manure. One of the most successful potato ma- 
nures ever put on the market. Its great potash content 
makes it valuable for use on all root crops, also on fruit 
lands. It works well on grass and fruit in connection with 
bone meal, and makes a valuable and lasting top-dressing. 
2 per cent, ammonia, 5 per cent. Av. Ph. Acid, 10 per cent, 
potash. Per sack, 200 lbs., $3.50; per ton, $28.00. 

Sheep Manure, Pulverized. A pure natural manure, un- 
equalled for mixing with potting soil for lawns, general 
vegetable and flower garden fertilizer, for making liquid 
manure water or for any purpose where quick as well as 
lasting results are wanted. 2-lb. package, 15 cts.; 5 lbs., 
25 cts.; 10 lbs., 40 cts.; 25 lbs., 75 cts.; 50 lbs., $1.25; 100 lbs., 
$2.00; 500 lbs., $9.00; 1000 lbs., $16.00; ton, $30.00. 

Tobacco Stems. An indispensable lawn covering for 
winter. It not only acts as a protector, but imparts large 
quantities of ammonia and drives away insects and moles. 
Bbl., $1.00; bale, $2.00; ton, $12.00. 

Wheat Fertilizer. This brand combines in available form 
the necessary elements for the growth of all grain and grass. 
Ammonia, 2 per cent.; phos. acid, 8 per cent.; potash, 2 per 
cent.; nitrogen, 1.65 per cent. Sacks of 200 lbs., $3.00; 
ton, $23.50. 



INDEX 

PAGE 

A 

Advantages of farm life 30 

Agriculture to be more profitable 10, 20, 27, 35 

Aim to exceed the average 25 

Alfalfa; hardy varieties 118 

Apples; market demands; storage 185, 186 

Arguments for mixed farming 11, 16, 159 

Avoid Single Crops 51 

B 

Bacteria of the soil 87 

Beef production 26 

Broomcorn 139 

Butter marketing 27 

C 

Cabbage raising 32 

Cattle feeding 51 

City men as farmers 29, 46, 66, 68 

Chemical elements for plants 85 

Cherries — Late varieties safest 183 

Concrete on farm 151 

Co-operation among farmers 27 

Corn, how to obtain good crop 134 

Cow testing 127, 129 

Crop combinations and diversity 18, 21, 26, 118 

Crop rotation 19, 34, 82 



298 INDEX 

PAGE 

Crop succession 38 

Crops — relative value 14 

D 

Dairy by-products 130 

Dairy cows compared 129 

Dairy management and profits 25, Z1 , 114, 124, 127 

Dates for planting vegetables 39, 291 

Deep plowing 100 

Diversity reduces risk 17, 20 

Duck raising 259 

E 

Earning capacity of land 18, 40, 53, 72 

Education for the farm 23 

Egg preservation 256 

Egg production 244, 249 

Egg type in hens . . . . • 252 

Exports and prosperity 12 

F 

Farm facilities improving 10 

Farm home betterment 10, 33 

Farm hours too long; labor 15, 17, 22, 31, 35 

Farm improvements a vital question 12 

Farm life more hopeful 22 

Farm work irksome 9, 10 

Farmer lacks selling knowledge 9, 26, 27, 70, 16, 115 

Farming opportunities 9, 30, 46, 6Z 

Farms are too large 12 

Fertilizers 295 

Floriculture; commercial value 31, 61, 214 

Fodder crops; new 122, 123 



INDEX 299 

PAGE 

Forage problem 117 

Fruit farming; suits amateurs 48, 56, 65, 171, 176, 183 

G 

Gardening a source of profit 21, 200 

Grain yield in Europe 24, 36, 80, 143 

Grain yield low 24, 36 

H 

Honey production 50, 235 

Hotbeds and coldframes 221 

Humus for land betterment 81 

I 

Insect pests; remedies 225, 232, 293 

Insecticides 293 

Investments in the country 30 

Irrigation by wells 148 

L 

Labor problem on farm 15, 17, 21, 22, 31, 35 

Legumes benefit land 85, 96, 122 

Lime a farming adjunct 81 

Little farms of Europe 53 

Location important 20 

M 

Manure; value of liquid 45, 93 

Moneymaking ideas 25 

O 

Onion growing 168 

Orchard heating 183 

P 

Parasites cause loss 266 

Parcels post aids farmers 11 



300 INDEX 

PAGE 

Pasture waste 41 

Phosphorus an essential 83 

Pickles 164 

Population changes 36 

Pork production 25, 26, 108 

Potatoes 36, 102, 202 

Poultry diseases and remedies 270 

Poultry management 49, 244, 274 

Prices of farm products 11 

Profit sharing 61, 64 

Profits in novelties 159 

Pruning important 176 

S 

Silo construction and use 155 

Small fruits pay 187, 196 

Soil improvement 80, 98 

Strawberries, early and late 192, 197 

Sugar beets 142 

Sweet potatoes 106 

T 
Turkey raising 2(dZ 

W 

Weeds cause work and loss 24 

Weeds have market value 163 

Women farmers 1Z 

Y 
Young people on farm 9, 12, 22, 33, 57, 61, 161 



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